Second Impressions
by ScaryCrazy
Summary: Naruto never had many friends, and was an outcast at the private school he shouldn't have gotten into in the first place. But with a required teamwork activity at school comes friendship, and maybe a little mor? Warning. Yaoi. Humor/friendship/romance.
1. Chapter 1

Heya. Okay. So, I've had this idea for a long time, but I haven't had any time to write. But I've been stuck in the house for the past few days with nothing to do, so I started it. Enjoy :D

**Chapter 1**

It was snowing. Naruto hated the snow. It made the walk to school completely miserable. Not that the walk was ever un-miserable. But the cold, icy weather always made him feel more down than he already was.

It was the first day of the new semester, which was why the blonde had ventured out into the early morning. With the new semester came new classes, as well as new teachers. Naruto never did well with the new.

A few people said "hi" to Naruto as he passed. He answered them with a sad smile. It was the one thing he liked about his neighborhood. After getting over the initial shock of the worn down buildings and the constant violence, the people were actually very friendly. As long as you weren't a troublemaker at least.

Staying out of trouble was an art that Naruto had nearly perfected. He knew when to come and go from his small apartment as to avoid running into the wrong people, and he was pretty good at talking his way out of a potentially deadly situation if he didn't manage to avoid the wrong people.

Naruto glanced at his watch. He pulled his worn black jacket around him tighter as he quickened his pace. School started in an hour, but it would take him longer than that to get there unless he hurried. His school was on the other side of town.

The people that knew he went to Konoha Elitist Prep, or K.E.P. for short, seemed to think he was both very lucky and very smart. K.E.P. was the hardest school to get into in a fifty-mile radius. A graduate of K.E.P could go nearly anywhere and do nearly anything just because of the school's reputation. Graduating from K.E.P was guaranteed acceptance into any university.

But getting into K.E.P. was nearly impossible. Only parents with insane amounts of money could afford the tuition, and the only scholarships that were offered were to kids whose parents were really well connected with one or more members of the school board.

So, people thought that Naruto was very lucky and very smart. They knew he wasn't loaded, otherwise he wouldn't be living in the absolute worst part of town, and that left only brilliancy and the assumption that he had friends in high places.

That false reputation alone was enough to earn him plenty of respect, something that Naruto never resented. He needed all the respect he could get. He couldn't count the number of times he had gotten out of a sticky situation just because he was wearing the Konoha Elitists uniform.

Naruto was out of breath and freezing by the time he got to the school, only two minutes before the bell rang. He had enough time to run to his locker before his first class.

Once in class, he sat in the back of the room, waiting for the teacher to get started. No one paid any attention to him, which was perfectly fine. Naruto liked being ignored at school, because the respect people had for him on the street didn't continue on campus. At school, no one had any false delusions that he was some boy genius. They knew he was a screw up. And it was popularly accepted that Naruto had gotten into K.E.P. by a fluke.

And it was the truth. Naruto had accepted this years before, when he was still in elementary school. He wasn't smart. He could barely make the grade. The only reason he had gotten into K.E.P. was because he had a distant family relative who knew a lot of people. And his godson happened to be on the school board.

The teacher stood up in front of the class. He cleared his throat and started talking. Naruto only half paid attention. Ebisu was his least favorite teacher. He had always looked down on Naruto, and Naruto had never given the man any respect. It was a hate/hate relationship that would probably never change.

"Alright. You all know the purpose of this class. It's to ready you for teamwork scenarios in the work place. You will be split into groups of three, and you will be required to stay in the same group until you graduate. Once you're groups have been chosen, you're teammates will therefore be your responsibility. In the workplace, if one of your team does bad, you are responsible. So it will be for this class…"

Naruto tuned the man out. He knew all about this stupid class. It was part of the graduation requirements. He was far from happy that he would be working with a group for the rest of his school career. He didn't like people, and people didn't like him.

Naruto focused again once Ebisu started calling out the groups. He watched as people moved around the room to sit with their group. No one looked very happy.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto scowled. He had just been put in a group with the biggest jackass on the face of the planet. Sasuke was a conceited, preppy rich kid, and Naruto would have liked nothing more than to stab him in the eyeball with a screwdriver.

Sakura, on the other hand, had always been nice to Naruto, so long as he didn't try to talk to her in front of her friends. She was way too cool to be seen with him. But if she saw him in the library or in the hallways between classes she would always smile politely. She had never openly been mean to him at least.

Both Sakura and Sasuke had looked around when their names had been called, and seeing that Naruto didn't stand up to move, they joined him in the back of the room.

"If you aren't happy with you're team, don't come whining to me. No, you can't trade people, and no, you can't just do it by yourself. In the workplace, you don't have the luxury of choosing your coworkers, so you don't have a choice here either. Now, I want you to spend the class period talking with your teammates. Find out what classes they are taking, if they are having any trouble in those classes, and draw up a meeting schedule. You are expected to meet three times a week outside of school. I will give you your first group assignment before the end of the period." Ebisu sat down at his desk and immediately started going through his paperwork.

Around the classroom, nervous voices could be heard. This class was purposely made so that friends weren't placed in the same group. The idea was to work with new people, and that always put everyone on edge.

Naruto looked between Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke met his gaze, but Sakura was busy examining her fingernails.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I have English, Chemistry, Algebra, History, and P.E." Sakura looked up from her nails, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I have trouble with all of the above."

Sakura was fidgeting nervously, but she followed suit. "I have Biology, Calculus, English, Latin and History. I'm not really having trouble with any of them."

They both turned their eyes to Sasuke. Sasuke was known among the school as not having any friends. Not because nobody wanted to be his friend, but because Sasuke was a self-proclaimed loner. He wouldn't suffer through anyone else's company.

After a minute long staring contest, Sasuke finally spoke. "Accounting, Business, English, History and Computer Technology." He didn't need to verbalize that he was obviously having no trouble in his classes.

"Have you started on the schedule yet?" All three of them jumped and turned to see Ebisu towering over them.

"Not yet." Sakura said sweetly. "We were just getting to that."

"Hmph."

Once Ebisu was back at his desk, Sakura spoke. "Well, I guess we could meet at my house on Mondays or Tuesdays. My mother always has people over other days, and I'm not allowed to interrupt when she does."

Sasuke didn't say anything. Naruto rolled his eyes at the dark haired teen and instead brought out a notebook and a pencil and scribbled down 'Sakura's—Tuesday'.

"What time could we meet at your house, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke."

"What?"

"No 'Kun'. Just Sasuke." Sasuke snapped. "I don't care when we meet. Let's do it on Friday."

Naruto wordlessly wrote it down.

"And Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shifted uneasily. "Yeah. It would really be better if we didn't meet at my place."

"And why is that?" Sasuke demanded. "If we have to open up our houses, why shouldn't you?"

"Is there a problem?" Ebisu was back.

"No." Naruto insisted. "I was just explaining that we can't meet at my place because-"

"Nonsense, Uzumaki. There is absolutely no reason why you should be excluded from that part of the activity. Now choose a day."

Naruto gulped and thought quickly. When was the best day for them to come over?

'Never.' Said a little voice in the back of his head.

"Sunday." He said out loud. It was the most reasonable. People tended to be more laid back on Sundays, with it being the holy day. It was the only choice.

"I'm kinda busy on Sunday's." Sakura whined. "I have to go to church with my parents."

"Then come after church." Sasuke snapped. Naruto could tell he didn't like the entire situation.

"Alright, we need a time and a place to meet." Naruto interjected before an argument could pick up between the two. They looked at him quizzically. "On Sunday's, I mean. So you can come to my place."

"I am perfectly capable of finding the place by myself." Sasuke sneered. "And I even have a car to drive, what a concept."

Naruto actually chuckled. "You wont have a car for very long if you bring it into my neighborhood."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura was looking a bit nervous. "Where exactly do you live?"

It had taken the majority of the class period to convince Sasuke that it was necessary for Naruto to meet him and Sakura at what Naruto described as a 'safe-zone.' He finally agreed, but only to get Naruto to shut up about it, or so he said.

"It isn't really that bad, is it?" Sakura asked as they were collecting their assignments from Ebisu and leaving the class.

"It really is." Naruto said. He noticed that Sakura looked a little scared. "But don't worry. I know the right people, and Sunday is a pretty good day." He refrained from adding the word 'usually' to the end of that sentence. "Just don't wear a lot of jewelry." He instantly regretted the last statement, as Sakura looked positively terrified. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes and stalked off to his next class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naruto was more than a little nervous as he tried to find his way to Sakura's house. She had given him directions, and he was pretty good at finding his way, but she also lived in a neighborhood that he had never stepped foot in before.

He was walking down a road that was lined with million-dollar houses. He couldn't even begin to describe how out of place he was at that moment.

There were perfectly manicured gardens, being tended by high-end gardeners. He passed by a dog walker, and the dogs she was walking were wearing collars that cost more than everything he owned put together. He was definitely out of his comfort zone.

An exotic, black sports car suddenly screeched to a halt right by him, making him jump. The window rolled down, and he recognized the demanding voice.

"Get in."

Naruto hesitated. He didn't know what kind of car it was, but he knew it was worth more than his life. He didn't want to know what would happen if he got mud on the carpet.

"What the hell are you waiting for!?!" Came Sasuke's impatient voice.

"You know, I think I'll just walk." Naruto said quietly.

"You're going the wrong way, dumb ass. I would like to get this over with so get in the damn car."

Naruto scowled, but got in the car none-the-less, hoping he did get mud on the carpet. Sasuke peeled out and made a tight U-turn and they were speeding down the road. The dog-walker Naruto had passed a few minutes before glared as the dogs she was walking started barking and trying to chase after the car.

In a few minutes, Sasuke was screeching into Sakura's driveway. Sasuke gracefully stepped out of the car and handed his keys to the valet.

Naruto, on the other hand leapt out of the car and dropped to the ground, trying to give it a hug. "Land!!!! Dry land!!!"

"Oh shut up!" Sasuke snapped, looking embarrassed. "Get up!"

Naruto did, and followed Sasuke to the front door.

A little old man wearing a suit answered the door. Sasuke walked passed him without a word, but Naruto held out his hand.

"Hi. I'm Naruto."

The old man stared at him, but didn't take his hand. "Lady Sakura is expecting you. Shall I show you to the den?"

"Yes." Sasuke interjected. He shot Naruto a disgusted glare and looked pointedly at the little old man, who led the way down the hall.

Naruto crossed his arms and scowled again. He had obviously just made a fool out of himself several times over, and he had obviously embarrassed Sasuke to some extent, which didn't amuse him as much as he thought it would. He knew that he had probably embarrassed himself more, even if he didn't know exactly how.

Sakura was sitting in a big, comfortable looking armchair in the den. Naruto smiled and thanked the old man as he left. He could have sworn he saw the old man smile a bit as he left.

When he turned around, Sasuke was glaring at him, and Sakura had raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked defensively. "I was just being polite."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat down on a long couch, and Sakura smiled in an annoying manner that seemed to say 'that's okay. I know you don't know any better.'

Naruto scowled and plopped down on the couch as far away from Sasuke as he could get.

They spent an hour working on their project before they were interrupted by a woman bringing in a tray with sandwiches and several glasses. Naruto thanked her when she handed him his glass, and once again he was met with odd stares from his classmates.

"What?" He demanded.

"You don't have to do that." Sakura said.

"Do what?"

"Thank the help."

Naruto's eye twitched. "I was just being polite. You know. Common courtesy. You thank someone who does something for you. Or is that below you."

Sakura flushed. "They are here to serve, to be unobtrusive, and to do what needs to be done without being asked. You don't have to acknowledge them."

Naruto sneered. "This coming from someone who has never had to do anything for herself, I assume."

If looks could kill, Naruto would have had minor burns. Sakura's glare wasn't really intimidating. "Menial tasks are for the unprivileged."

Naruto snarled. "Meaning you're better than they are just because they have to work to survive?"

Sakura looked properly taken aback, and was about to retort when Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Can we get this done?"

Sakura glanced at him and turned her glare back to Naruto. "Of course."

Naruto had a hard time controlling his anger over the next few hours. He didn't touch the food given to him, mostly because he wasn't sure what it was. What kind of sandwiches had green stuff in them? Seriously! Finally, he couldn't take the monotony anymore.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Third door on the right down the hall." Sakura didn't miss a beat. Naruto got up, uncomfortably aware that Sasuke was still glaring at him.

When he left the den, Naruto was immediately lost. There were doorways down both sides of the hallway, in both directions. How anyone could live in such a place was beyond him.

He started down one way, but hesitated. He didn't want to walk into the wrong room.

Movement caught his eye, and he saw a maid dusting some pictures down the hall.

"Where's the bathroom?" He asked quietly. She looked at him, and pointed at the door across from where she was standing.

"Thanks." Naruto smiled.

He had quite the shock when he stepped into the bathroom. Not only did the lights automatically come on, but the room was huge. It was bigger than his entire apartment. Everything about the bathroom screamed 'exceptional.'

And he was supposed to pee in here?

The damn toilet looked expensive. And it was a toilet!

"Stupid people." Naruto swore under his breath. But he managed to do his business anyways. He felt like he was dirtying the place just by breathing.

When he left the bathroom, he had a little trouble locating the den, and had to ask one of the 'help' again. This time, however, when he thanked the man he got a smile.

"Took you long enough." Sasuke sneered when Naruto came back into the room.

"Yeah, well it's kind of a big place and I kind of got a little lost." Naruto snapped.

At this, Sasuke and Sakura shared an amused look.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize-"

"Oh shut up." Naruto snapped before Sakura could finish her sentence. "Can we please just finish this so I can go home?"

There were a few more snide comments, but eventually the project got finished. Naruto sighed in relief as the same little old man showed him and Sasuke to the door.

The valet had Sasuke's car started and ready to go. Naruto ignored it and started walking down the driveway.

Once again, Sasuke skidded to a halt beside him, and shouted at him.

"Get in the damn car!"

"I'll walk."

"Get in the car!"

"I said, 'I'll Walk!'"

"It wasn't a request!"

Naruto ignored him and kept walking, turning out of the driveway. To his annoyance, Sasuke followed him.

"Go away."

"Get in the car."

Naruto stopped and glared at the dark haired boy, who glared strait back. "What the hell is your problem? I said I'd walk, so let me walk Damnit! I don't need your charity."

Sasuke looked furious. "Who's giving charity? Now get in the fucking car!"

"No." Naruto stubbornly started walking again, pointedly ignoring the car that was slowly following him.

"Damnit Uzumaki! You can't just walk out of this neighborhood!"

Suddenly, it all made sense. Sasuke was worried about the image Naruto was giving by walking.

"Oh. So you don't want me to make you look bad. You're right, you aren't giving charity. You're just an arrogant, conceited bastard." With that, Naruto flipped him off and kept walking.

"Dumb ass!" With that, Sasuke sped away. Naruto smirked. He was pretty sure he had just scored a minor victory.

Twenty-two blocks later, he was regretting that victory. He was about halfway to his apartment, and it was dark.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hey, Naru-chan. You're out late."

Naruto shivered at the fake endearment in the voice he knew too well.

"Yeah. Stupid school project." Naruto replied, trying to keep walking.

"That's right. You're an Elitist."

Naruto stopped when the speaker stood in front of him. "What do you want, Kabuto?"

Kabuto smirked. "The usual."

Naruto sighed and fished some money out of his pocket. He stuffed it into Kabuto's hand. "I know it isn't as much as usual, but it's all I have."

Kabuto threw an arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Naru-chan. Don't worry about that. I'm just glad we have an understanding." With that, he drove his fist into the blonde's stomach.

Naruto grunted from the pain, but managed to stay standing.

"I assume you will have more next time?"

"Yeah." Naruto agreed grudgingly. He really, really didn't like this guy.

"Good, because Orochimaru really doesn't like it when he feels cheated."

Naruto resisted the urge to point out that he was the one who was getting cheated and continued on his way home.

A few minutes later, he was slipping into his apartment, making sure to lock all four locks. He took a deep breath.

He was used to dealing with Kabuto, but it never got any easier. Whereas he was respect by some for going to K.E.P., Kabuto took it as a sign that he had money to spare. Which was bullshit. Naruto had very little money.

The only reason he was in K.E.P. was because of his uncle. Jiriaya wasn't really his uncle. He was a third cousin or some shit like that, but it was simpler just to call him 'uncle.' Jiriaya was the last living relative he had. When Naruto's mother had died, he was the only person that was there to contact.

Jiriaya had liked his mother, but had no interest in having a kid around. He was a successful 'writer.' A kid would have gotten in the way of the man's dirty novels.

So instead, Jiriaya had just gotten him the cheapest place he could find and got him into one of the top schools in the country. From there, Naruto was on his own. Jiriaya would sometimes stop by the school to see him and give him a bit of money, but that was rare.

Instead, Naruto worked at a convenient store three days a week. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays were dedicated to making enough money to buy food and school supplies.

Naruto walked into his tiny kitchen and opened the fridge. It was empty. And he didn't get paid for another week.

Sighing, he let the door swing shut and went into the living room, pulling a sketchpad off the bookshelf. He flipped through it until he found a blank page and sat down on the floor.

Drawing was a great distraction. It took his mind off his problems. It was also partly to blame for his bad grades. There were many times he had stayed up all night drawing instead of doing his homework. It was one of those nights.

During the day, he liked to go outside and draw. He would draw the street, and his neighbors. They didn't seem to mind, and he thought they were excellent subject matter. He liked drawing things how they were. People hanging the laundry, kids playing with broken toys, the little old lady taking care of the communal garden. He liked that aspect of life.

But at night, he knew better than to go out and try to draw the people. He would get shot if he tried to sketch a drug deal, or a fight between rival gangs. So he settled on drawing whatever came to mind from his memories of the day. This time, it was the 'help' at Sakura's house.

* * *

He was woken far too early the next morning by a loud knocking on the door. Groggily, he got up and looked through the peephole.

It was Suiren. A lady that lived across the street in another apartment building. She had her five-year-old daughter, Taki, with her.

Naruto opened the door.

"Hi. Naruto. I have a huge favor to ask."

Naruto nodded.

"Taki is really sick, but if I miss work I'm going to get fired."

Naruto immediately held out his arms for the little girl. Suiren smiled and handed her daughter to the teen. "Thank you soooo much. She handed Naruto a bag. "Her medicine is in there. She needs it every four hours, and I gave her some about twenty minutes ago. I'll be back by four to pick her up."

And she was gone. Naruto closed the door and set Taki down on the couch. She was still in her pajamas and had her favorite bunny slippers on.

"Naru-chan, I don't feel good." Taki coughed.

"I know, Taki." Naruto smoothed her hair. "I know something that can make you feel better."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It will take me a few minutes to make. Do you want a blanket?"

The little girl nodded. Naruto went to the hall closet and picked out the softest blanket he had and wrapped it around the little girl. She coughed again and lay down on the couch.

Naruto went into the kitchen, setting down the bag on the counter. He glanced in it, smiling when he saw that there was plenty of food in it. More food than was necessary to feed a sick little girl.

Suiren was one of his only friends. When Naruto didn't have school, he often watched Taki for her, so she didn't have to pay a babysitter. She was a nice woman, and had to work really hard to support her daughter, so Naruto had no problem helping her out when he could.

In return, Suiren would occasionally pop in with food, under the ruse that she had extra. Naruto never bought it, but was grateful none-the-less.

He made Taki some chamomile tea, and stirred in some honey. It was what his mom used to give him when she was still alive.

"I don't want yucky tea!" Taki pouted when Naruto tried to give it to her.

"But this is special tea. My mommy used to give it to me when I was a little boy, to help me feel better."

"Tea is yucky!" Taki said, crossing her arms. She coughed.

"Don't you want to feel better?" Naruto asked. "I promise it will help."

Still pouting, Taki reached out for the cup.

"Be careful. It's hot."

She smelled it, and took a tiny sip. Then, a grin broke out on her face. "This is yummy!"

Naruto smiled and sat next to her on the couch. He helped her finish her tea and set the cup on the floor when she was done.

Naruto smiled gently as he watched her yawn. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep and using his leg as a pillow.

Naruto took the opportunity to take a nap himself. He had been up really late. There had been too many pictures he wanted to finish, and as a result he was really tired.

He woke up a little while later with a bored five-year-old on his hands. And he had the perfect solution.

"Don't make me look ugly!" She told him as he drew her. She was sitting on the couch and smiling, being as still as a five year old could be.

He smiled. "I could never do that."

Taki beamed.

A little while later, Naruto handed her the picture.

"You have to sign it!" Taki said knowingly. Naruto took the picture back and signed it for the little girl.

Taki was enthralled by the drawing. "It looks just like me!"

"Yeah. I did draw you."

"Could you teach me to draw like you!?"

"Sure." Naruto tore a page out of his sketchpad and gave it to her, along with his pencil. The next hour was spent with him showing her how to draw a cat.

When Suiren came by, Taki happily showed her mom the picture Naruto had drawn, as well as her cat, which was now taped to his fridge.

"Thank you so much!!" Suiren gave Naruto a big hug. "I'm sorry I made you miss school, but you're the only person I trust."

"It's no big deal." Naruto smiled. "I didn't feel like going to school today anyways."

"Yeah!" Taki agreed. "He would rather play with me!"

Suiren smiled and gave Naruto one last hug. "You're a life saver."

Taki gave Naruto a big hug too. "You're my best friend, Naru-chan!"

"Really?" Naruto smiled. "You're my best friend too, Taki-Chan!"

The little girl giggled and took her mother's hand as they left the apartment.

Hurriedly, Naruto grabbed his jacket and his keys and locked up the apartment. It was Wednesday, and that meant he had to work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Naruto was startled when he came face to face with his angry teammates. Apparently, it had been very bad for them that he had missed school the previous day.

"Where the hell were you?" Sasuke demanded.

"That's none of your damn business!"

"It became our business when we got stuck with you in our team." Sakura snapped.

"It was an emergency."

"Really. Care to expand on that?" Sakura sneered.

Naruto growled. "It's not something you would understand, okay? Little miss perfect."

Ebisu came over to listen to the argument.

"You can't just miss school when other people are depending on you! And don't try to pull the 'it's personal' card! Give us a decent excuse!"

"I don't have to give you anything! My life is none of your damn business!"

"Detention. All three of you." Ebisu suddenly interjected.

"What!?!" Three angry voices rang out.

"Detention. Today. Be here at 3:05 sharp."

"What for!?" Naruto challenged.

"In the work place, a dispute among colleagues is detrimental. If you can't work it out in a civilized manner, you will serve detention until you get it right."

Naruto scowled. "I have to work this afternoon. I can't serve your stupid detention."

"Now, now, Uzumaki. Your future is on the line. You will show up to detention or-"

"Screw the future! I have to show up to work! If I don't, I get fired and then I don't eat!" He was shouting by this point, and every eye in the class turned to look at him. "I'm sorry that I'm not 'privileged' enough to have food served to me on a silver platter whenever I need it! I'm sorry I'm not part of your future-oriented reality! I'm just stuck in my own reality, and that reality means I need to show up for my present job rather than the training for a future job I'll probably never have anyways!"

He was breathing heavily and glaring at Ebisu, who stood there dumbstruck. After a while, he cleared his throat and went back to his desk. Slowly, people went back to what they were doing before he lashed out.

Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him, but he ignored them, instead glaring down at the desk.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked timidly.

"What!?"

"I'm sorry."

Naruto glanced up at her. She looked genuinely apologetic. Sasuke was avoiding his glance.

"Whatever. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem."

"Do you need food? I could-"

"I don't need charity!"

"It never occurred to me… I mean, you didn't touch your food at my house, so I assumed you had already eaten…"

Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "I didn't touch it because it was green."

There was silence for a minute, which was broken by Sasuke laughing. He couldn't believe it. Sasuke was laughing. "That's because they were made out of cucumbers, moron."

Naruto glared at him. "Who makes sandwiches out of cucumbers!?"

"They're a delicacy." Sakura sighed.

Naruto snorted. "I'll stick to ham, thank you."

There was more silence.

"So. You missed a lot yesterday." Sakura broke the silence, opening up her binder. "We were given a list of the work you missed."

Naruto frowned. "I don't see why it's such a big deal. I miss school all the time and no one cares."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. That makes a lot of sense. You are going to one of the best schools in the country and no one cares if you don't show up. I'm sure your parents have a problem with it."

Naruto gave him a blank stare. "My parents are dead."

Sasuke actually looked taken aback. "Oh."

There was more silence, this one more awkward than the other two combined.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke finally muttered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. As far as he knew, the great Sasuke Uchiha never apologized to anyone. He didn't think the words 'I'm sorry' were in his vocabulary.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm sorry, Damnit, I didn't know."

Naruto laughed. "It happened a long time ago. Don't worry about it."

The truth was that Naruto's mother was dead. He had never met his father. He didn't even know his father's name. He had never met anyone on his father's side of the family, and his mother had never mentioned him. Jiriaya didn't even know who he was.

"Who do you live with, then?" Sakura asked.

"No one. I live by myself."

"You have your own place?" Sasuke asked. "Nobody there breathing down your neck and telling you what to do?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's not as great as you make it sound."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Alright. Well back to the work you missed." Sakura quickly changed the subject. "If you don't get it in, we all lose point for this class."

Naruto groaned and took the list from Sakura. There was no way he was going to be able to get everything done by the next day. Not when he had to work until closing.

Naruto was dead tired as he walked home from work. It was past midnight, and it had been a busy night, so he hadn't even started on his homework.

"Hey Naru-Chan."

"Hi Kabuto." Naruto replied mechanically.

"Awwww. Why so blue?" Kabuto stood in front of the blonde, an eyebrow raised above his thick glasses. "Did you have a bad day?"

Naruto hated the fake sincerity in the guys' voice. "Yeah. A very bad day. I don't have any money for you."

Kabuto tutted. "Why would you think that's all I'm interested in? I'm hurt Naru-Chan."

"Because that's all you're ever interested in, Kabuto." Naruto knew he was being rude, but he was in a bad mood. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get to sleep before dawn."

He had taken his rudeness a little too far.

"What's that, Naru-chan? You don't like spending time with Kabuto?" Orochimaru's voice sent shivers down the blonde's back.

Kabuto was smirking. "That cuts deep, Naru-Chan."

Naruto gulped. He had definitely put his foot in his mouth, and he knew Kabuto was about to shove his foot up his ass. It definitely wasn't his day.

* * *

Naruto picked himself up off the sidewalk. It had been a rather bad beating, by Kabuto's standards. But Orochimaru was a cruel, sadistic bastard, who liked to watch Kabuto beat people to a bloody pulp. If it hadn't been for the creepy old man's presence, Naruto was sure he would have gotten away unscathed.

He gingerly felt his jaw as he walked the remaining distance to his apartment. When he was safely locked in, he made straight for the bed. Homework be damned, he just wanted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"What happened to your face?"

Naruto groaned. He had been hoping to skip the whole question and answer thing. "What does it look like?"

"Like you got the shit beat out of you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "There you have it. We have a boy genius on our hands."

Sasuke glared at him. "So. What happened?"

"It's exactly what it looks like."

At that point, Sakura came into class. "I'm sorry I'm late. My mom was getting a manicure and forgot that I needed a ride to school, so she had the car—Naruto! What happened!?"

Naruto groaned again and let his head fall against the desk. "Ask Sasuke. He guessed it pretty accurately."

Sakura looked at Sasuke.

"All I got was that someone beat the shit out of him."

"Who was it Naruto? Did you call the police?"

Naruto laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

Sakura scowled. "What's so funny?"

Naruto laughed some more. "Call the cops? That would be the stupidest thing I could do! I can take a beating, but I'm not gonna survive being shot."

There was silence.

"What happened?" Sasuke repeated his previous question.

"You already know! What? Do you want all the gruesome details? I didn't know you were so sadistic."

Sasuke actually grinned. "Lets pretend I am. What happened?"

"You're not going to let it drop until I tell you, are you?"

"Nope."

Naruto sighed. "Okay. The abbreviated story. There's this guy. He's kind of scary. By kind of I mean really. He has a whole bunch of minions. Well, one of his minions got it in his head that because I'm an 'Elitist' I have all this money. So, now if I want them to leave me alone, I have to pay them and last night I didn't have the money."

Sakura looked appalled. "Do you need-"

"I don't need your damn charity!"

Sasuke was looking at him curiously. "How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long has it been going on, moron!?"

"A few years, bastard!"

There was silence. It was finally broken by Ebisu.

"Don't you have work to do?

They had barely started their work when Naruto was called to the office. Jiriaya had come to visit.

* * *

When lunchtime rolled around, Naruto headed to the library instead of the cafeteria. He didn't have any food, and didn't want to sit alone in a crowded, noisy room. He also had the king of all headaches.

He made a mental note to go shopping on his way home. Jiriaya had performed his usual visit. He had shoved a couple hundred dollars into his hand and patted him on the head.

Most of it was hidden in his sock, but there was a little in his pocket for easy access in case he ran into Kabuto on his way home.

After school, however, he was cornered by Sasuke. "Are you going to refuse a ride to my house?"

Naruto looked at him, confused. Then, it hit him. "Damnit! I totally forgot."

"That's considerate."

"No! I forgot that it's Friday. Sorry. I have a lot on my mind."

"Do you want a ride or not."

"…sure…"

The ride to Sasuke's house wasn't exactly pleasant. Naruto was really tempted to ask the dark haired boy whether or not he was just giving him a ride for his 'image' again, but he didn't want to start a fight.

Instead, it was Sasuke who broke the silence. "How did you get into K.E.P.?"

Naruto glanced at him. "Why do you want to know?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well, no one really knows how you got in. I guess we assumed that you're parents were important people… but if that isn't the case…" His voice trailed off. "You know what… Just forget that I asked."

Naruto was silent for a minute. "I only have one living relative. He's like my third cousin, or something like that. Well, his godson is Kakashi Hatake. When my mom died, he pulled some strings and got me in. He also pays for my apartment. I think that's his version of 'looking out' for me."

He avoided Sasuke's eyes and just stared at the road. He didn't want to see the pity in them. Everyone who knew his story felt pity for him. He hated it.

"Who's this third cousin?" Sasuke's voice still sounded curious.

"I call him Uncle Jiriaya. He's some famous writer."

"Really? That's cool. What does he write."

"The literary version of porn."

Sasuke choked and nearly swerved into another car. "He writes _romance_ novels?"

Naruto was laughing. "I wouldn't call them Romance. I read one of them once. There was very little romance and a whole lot of sex."

Sasuke was chuckling a little. "That's interesting."

Naruto smiled weakly. "If you say so. I was ten when I read the damn thing. It confused the shit out of me. That's when he gave me the 'birds and the bees' talk. I was mortified. After that one of my neighbors had to sit down and give me the un-perverted version of the talk." He glanced at Sasuke. He was surprised to see him smiling.

"My nanny gave me the talk when I was fifteen. She thought I was ready. But I had already heard it all from my brother. He had a lot of fun with that. He brought home books for me every day for a week. I was eleven. My father found out about it and had a fit."

Naruto was roaring with laughter. "What happened?"

Sasuke snorted. "He told my father that it was perfectly normal to be interested in sex at my age. He also told my father that sex was natural and a man his age shouldn't be afraid of it."

Naruto was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. "You're brother sounds fun."

"He's an asshole." Sasuke informed him. "That's one thing, while we're at my house, just avoid him if at all possible. He really doesn't like anyone."

Naruto nodded. "Well, if he's anything like you…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?!"

"Nothing…"

"Moron!"

"Bastard!"

It continued like this until they reached Sasuke's house. Naruto was in shock. He had thought Sakura's neighborhood was high end. But those houses looked like shacks compared to the ones he was looking at now.

He also had the strangest feeling that he had been in this neighborhood before. When, he couldn't remember, but everything looked very familiar.

"Sakura won't be here for a little while, because we're running a bit early." Sasuke informed him.

Naruto just nodded. He was still trying to remember how in the world he could have ever been there before.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The strange feeling of déjà vu didn't lessen any as Naruto followed Sasuke into the house. In fact, the more he saw, the more he was sure he had been there before, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Little brother." A smooth voice interrupted the silence that Naruto hadn't realized had become awkward. He jumped. He knew that voice…

"Itachi." Sasuke nodded to the man that had just emerged from the door on his left.

Naruto glanced at Itachi, panic flooding through him. He saw Itachi raise an eyebrow at him. He suddenly knew why the house seemed so familiar. Oh. This was bad. This was very bad. He had to do something before Itachi said something.

"Hi!! I'm Naruto!" He rushed forward, holding out his hand to Itachi. Behind him, he heard Sasuke swearing under his voice.

He was giving Itachi a pleading look, hoping against hope that the man could read his mind.

Itachi's eyebrow arched higher. "Naruto?"

Naruto held his breathe for what seemed like ages.

"It's very nice to meet you." Itachi took his hand and shook it firmly. Naruto could feel the relief rushing through his body that Itachi had not only caught on, but was playing along. He mouthed the words 'thank you.'

"You are a classmate of Sasuke's?"

"Yeah. We are in the same 'teamwork' group." Naruto heard Sasuke coughing behind him, and knew that he was going to be furious. But hey, he had to save his own ass, and he was willing to suffer Sasuke's wrath to do so.

"What, pray tell, happened to your face?" Itachi asked, reaching up to lightly brush one of the bruises on his cheek. Naruto averted his eyes and took a step back.

"I was on the bad end of a fight."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, and Naruto knew they would have a lot to talk about the next night. "Well, I have to go to work. Sasuke, make sure you make our guest comfortable."

Sasuke didn't answer and Itachi simply passed by him.

Naruto glanced nervously at Sasuke. He was frozen in shock.

"Sasuke?"

No answer.

"Sasuke?" Naruto waved a hand in front of his face. "Anyone in there?"

Finally, Sasuke looked at him. "That was strange."

Naruto laughed nervously. "What was?"

"My brother. He was… that was weird." He looked a little suspicious all of a sudden. Naruto found himself gulping. Damn. By the end of the day his nerves were going to be shot.

"He's up to something. He's trying to mess with my mind!"

At this, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Really now? He didn't seem that mischievous to me."

Sasuke looked at the blonde. Then, a horrified look came over his face. "I know what it is!"

"What?" Naruto asked apprehensively. He wasn't sure he liked where Sasuke's brain pattern was going.

"He wants to—never mind!"

"He wants to what?"

"Never mind. I don't want to think about that. He's my brother. Ewwww!"

Naruto was completely nonplussed. He had never seen Sasuke so-so- what was the word? Un-composed! Yes. That was it! He had never seen Sasuke so un-composed.

"Are you okay?"

Sasuke looked at him. "Yeah. Lets go to the library."

They sat in the library in silence while they waited for Sakura to show up. Naruto was uncomfortably aware of the fact that Sasuke was studying him out of the corner of his eye.

"What!?!" He finally demanded from the brooding teen.

"Nothing!" Was Sasuke's too quick response.

"If you have a problem, just spit it out! You're driving me crazy with all these weird looks!"

"I don't have a problem!"

"Then stop staring at me!"

Their argument was interrupted when Sakura showed up.

"Hey." She said with a smile. But her smile disappeared when she noticed the tension in the room.

"What's going on?"

"Sasuke's acting weird!" Naruto pouted, pointing an accusing finger at the dark haired boy.

"Sakura, you would understand! Do you know anyone that is always acting like they're god's gift to earth and who's constantly looking down on people?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well what would you think if he suddenly dropped that attitude and seemed really pleased to be meeting someone?"

Sakura frowned and thought about it. One person came to mind. "I would think he wanted to get laid."

"Thank you!"

Naruto paled. "Whoa!!! Is that why you're acting crazy!? Just because you're brother was nice to me doesn't mean he wants to bone me!!!" He was starting to sweat. They were entering dangerous territory.

"What!?!" Sakura's eyes went wide. "You're brother is hot for Naruto!?!"

"I don't know!" Sasuke crossed his arms. "But Naruto came in acting like an overly happy moron, and introduced himself and he was nice!"

Naruto shook his head. "I think you're reading to much into it. I mean, maybe he was just nice because I was nice first!"

"He's never nice!"

"And how many people approach him with a smile?"

Sasuke fell silent. How many people did approach his brother in the 'Naruto-ish' manner? He couldn't think of one. "Hmm. Maybe you're right."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

Sakura was looking between the two. "Umm. Sasuke. Why would you think that your brother was hot for Naruto anyways?"

Sasuke smirked. "Because he's gay."

"Seriously?" Sakura looked taken aback, and Naruto was getting nervous again.

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Okay. I think I'm done with the drama. Could we get started?"

Sasuke agreed, and Sakura looked a little disappointed in the change of topic, but agreed none-the-less.

Naruto was on edge the entire evening. Sasuke kept looking at him weird, and the blonde knew he was trying to figure it all out.

Meanwhile, Naruto was trying to figure out if Sasuke was smart enough to figure it out. He really hoped that he wasn't. It would be disastrous if he did figure it out.

Naruto was beyond happy when they were finally done for the night. He had survived without disaster.

His delight was short-lived, however when Sasuke started insisting on giving him a ride home.

"I don't need a ride!"

"Right! So you're just going to walk home and get beaten to a bloody pulp again?"

Naruto growled. "It won't happen again! I've got it all figured out! And besides, I have things to do!"

"Really!? Like what?"

"I have to stop by the store!"

"And you couldn't do that if I was giving you a ride!?"

"I have a routine! What the hell is this obsession you have with giving me a ride!? Seriously! Is it some master plan to get me into your back seat!?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?!"

"It means that maybe it isn't your brother who's hot for me!!!!!"

Naruto knew he had said too much even before Sasuke's fist made contact with his mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Naruto woke up early on Saturday morning. It was a habit that came from years of waking up early enough to get to school.

He went into the kitchen and got himself a bowl of cereal. He had managed to get to the store the night before, just before it closed and picked up enough food to last a couple weeks.

He also hadn't run into Kabuto, which was always a plus.

Sitting on the couch, he took a big bite of his cereal. It really was entirely too early. He didn't have anything to do until that evening.

Sighing, he took another bite of his cereal. He hadn't slept-in in years. Not that he didn't want to. He just couldn't.

In between bites, Naruto gingerly felt his swollen lip. Who knew Sasuke could pack a punch. Naruto had always assumed he was just full of hot air.

He couldn't stop telling himself how stupid he had been. Usually, he was great at talking himself out of trouble, but lately he seemed to be talking himself into it far too often.

Yeah. That crack about Sasuke being hot for him had been a little much.

He just couldn't help it though. His mouth had a mind of it's own sometimes.

And besides. It was Sasuke's fault in the first place. Why couldn't the guy just lay off the whole 'let me give you a ride' thing? He didn't need charity, Damnit!

The blonde finished his cereal and washed the bowl, while trying to figure out how he was going to spend his time.

He still had a sketchpad sitting on his couch, and it was beckoning his name.

Then, a voice that sounded very much like Sakura's sounded in his head. 'You need to do your homework.'

Any other time, Naruto would have ignored such a voice. This time, however, he grudgingly agreed with it. Sakura had mentioned that his bad grades would be bad for her and Sasuke. And as much as he didn't care about his own grades, he knew it wasn't right to let his own carelessness bring down his teammates.

So, after a full day of trying to complete the mountains of homework he had, Naruto was more than ready to get out of his apartment. And, being as it was Saturday, he already had a place to go.

He threw on a pair of jeans. They were his only pair, actually, and they were in a sad state to say the least. Both knees were ripped out, and the bottoms of the pant legs were just about shredded. He also threw on a plain black t-shirt. It was a little tight, but then again he had owned the thing for years. Then, he grabbed his jacket and locked the door behind him.

Naruto found his destination easily. He had been a regular there for three years, after all. It was an out-of-the-way hole in the wall to the untrained eye, but it was Naruto's favorite hang out on a Saturday night.

Loud techno music blasted through his eardrums as he made his way to the bar. He handed his jacket to the bar tender.

"Hello Naruto."

"Hey Itachi."

The older man smiled. "So. Funny thing happened yesterday. This kid I've known for years walks into my house with my little brother, then he acts as if he doesn't know me. So I play along. During my pretending, I find out something about this kid that I hadn't known. Isn't it interesting, the things that happen."

Naruto scratched the top of his head sheepishly. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I'm not out of the closet at school."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "So you pretended you didn't know me? That hurts."

"It's not that! It would have raised the question of 'how do you know my brother?' which would lead to 'what the hell were you doing in a gay bar?' which would undoubtedly lead to the 'OMG!!! YOU'RE GAY!?!?!?!'" which would have lead to more trouble and humiliation at school."

Itachi smirked. "You certainly aren't concerned with your orientation here."

"There's a big difference between here and K.E.P."

"That leads me to another question. Why haven't you told me that you go to school with my brother."

"I didn't know I went to school with your brother!"

"Ahh. But had you told me you're an Elitist, I would have then been able to disclose such information and yesterday wouldn't have been nearly as awkward as it was. Oh! By the way. How did my little brother react after I left yesterday?"

Naruto leaned an elbow on the counter. "He freaked out. Couldn't quite figure out why you were so nice to me. Then, him and Sakura came to the conclusion that you wanted to bang me."

Itachi smirked. "Been there, done that."

Naruto returned the smirk. "And about the whole Elitist thing. Tell me, Itachi, when did we ever talk about school?"

Itachi shrugged his shoulder. "I just think it would be something that you'd want everyone to know."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You'd be surprised. So. Any new faces?"

Itachi glanced around. "A few. Don't worry. They'll be all over you before the night is over."

Naruto smirked and turned toward the dance floor. Itachi turned his attention to the impatient customers at the bar.

"Can I buy you a drink?" A voice said in Naruto's ear. He turned to look into bright-green eyes.

"No." The man looked a little crestfallen. "But you can ask me to dance."

A smirk played across the guy's face, and he boldly led Naruto onto the dance floor.

* * *

Very early the next morning, Naruto was staring at the ceiling, lying next to some guy whose name he didn't know. The alarm clock next to the bed read 1:00. The night was still young.

Careful not to wake the guy, he got up and pulled his clothes on. He hated the awkward 'hi! I had sex with you but I don't know your name' thing. Which is why he always left before the morning came. But this was ridiculously early. He was very disappointed.

Naruto was very adventurous with his sex life. Very rarely did he ever sleep with the same person twice, and even then he preferred if a third joined in.

The fact of the matter was that the sex usually wasn't good enough to go back for more.

Take this guy for example. They had gone at it a couple times, and then he had passed out. Naruto found his shoes in the dark and quietly slipped out of the apartment.

Being that it was so early, Naruto headed back to the club. He had no desire to wait the rest of the night out alone at his apartment.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at him as he handed over his jacket. "That bad, huh?"

Naruto nodded.

"You're insatiable." Itachi smirked.

"I know. I can't help it. It's just that the usual stuff is getting really boring."

"That sounds exciting." A man said as he slid up to the bar next to Naruto. "Itachi, we should let him join us tonight."

Itachi smirked. "That would be exciting. Naruto, this is Deidara. And as he already voiced, we want you to join us tonight."

Naruto gave Deidara a once-over and smirked. "I'd love to."

* * *

Naruto lay panting, pressed between Itachi and Deidara. A glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly 8:00. Naruto was sore, tired, and very content. It had been a great night.

"So. Naruto. How well do you get along with my brother?"

Naruto groaned. "Itachi, you sure know how to pick a conversation topic that's a mood killer."

"Awww. You think that little of him?" Itachi cooed as he playfully nipped Naruto's neck.

"We tolerate each other." Naruto answered, hissing when Itachi latched onto his skin.

Deidara was watching them with half closed eyes. A smirk was playing across his face. "We should definitely do this again."

"You're meeting him today, aren't you?" Itachi asked once he released his hold Naruto's neck. He flicked his tongue over the newly made mark.

"Yeah…" Naruto let his eyes slide closed.

"Hmmm… I don't know if you'd be interested, but I am of the opinion that Sasuke needs to lose his virginity."

Naruto's eyes snapped open. "What!?!"

"I'm just saying, it's something he needs. And you know its always fun taking someone's virginity." Itachi purred. "I had a lot of fun taking yours."

Naruto sat up, gaping down at Itachi. "Are you asking me if I want to have sex with your _brother_!?!"

Itachi shrugged. "Why not? It's not like he's brave enough to ask for it himself."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Naruto was walking as fast as he could. Which wasn't actually very fast because he was so sore. He was running a little late. Deidara had insisted that he take a shower before he left. Or more accurately, that he join him and Itachi in the shower.

Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for him, rather impatiently. The glare Sasuke gave him was enough to tell him that he was still mad about the 'you're hot for me' comment.

"You're late." Sasuke said coldly.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I had a really late night last night." Naruto said. He wasn't lying. In fact, his night hadn't ended until… well… it just hadn't ended.

"Have you been working on your homework?" Sakura asked as they started walking. Naruto had decided that the best meeting place was a shopping center that wasn't too far from his apartment.

"Yeah. I got about half of it done."

"It must not have been that late of a night." Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto glared at him.

They walked in silence for a long time after that.

"Is it much farther? My feet are killing me?" Sakura asked, looking around nervously. By Naruto's standards, it wasn't very far at all. But he had forgotten that Sasuke and Sakura didn't have to walk all over town.

"It's a couple more blocks." Naruto replied.

"Tell me again why I couldn't just drive here?" Sasuke snapped.

"Hi Naruto!" Naruto waved to the lady sitting on the steps of an old brick building.

"Because it would be stolen and stripped, and you would never see so much as the tire gauge again."

Sasuke glared at him, but didn't say anything further.

"Do you walk to school?" Sasuke asked as they reached Naruto's apartment building.

"Yeah." Naruto replied, fishing his keys out of his pocket.

"You must have to leave really early to get there on time." Sakura commented. "Why so many locks?"

"Security."

Naruto opened the door and let the other two go ahead of him. Then, he promptly locked the door behind him.

Sasuke and Sakura were looking around his small apartment with, what Naruto guessed was, disdain. He shrugged his coat off and threw it on the couch.

"Have a seat. Do you guys want some tea?" He asked as he headed toward the kitchen.

He didn't get a response, and he looked back to see Sakura whisper something in Sasuke's ear. She giggled when she saw Naruto looking at her.

"What?"

"So. You had a late night, huh?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah. So?"

She giggled harder. Sasuke was smirking.

"What!?"

"Did you have fun?"

"I guess… What's so damn funny?"

Sakura was in a fit of hysterical laughter by this point. She stumbled over to Naruto. "I didn't know you liked the biters, Naruto." She poked his neck.

Naruto flushed, batting her hand away. "So what!?"

Sakura wiped her eyes. "I just think it's funny. You had a late night…" And she was laughing again.

Naruto looked to Sasuke for help, but he was busy looking through a book.

Wait! That was his sketchbook.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!" Naruto yelled and snatched the book away. "I didn't go to your place and look through all your stuff!!"

"Did you draw those?"

Sakura stopped laughing and came over to join them.

"No. Bigfoot drew them." Naruto snapped. He shoved the sketchpad into the bookshelf and crossed his arms. "I'd like it if you didn't go through my stuff without my permission."

Sasuke ignored him and looked up and down the bookshelf. "Are these all full?" Naruto slapped his hand away as he reached for another sketchpad.

"Did you not just hear me!?! Don't go through my stuff!"

Sasuke looked at him. "Can I have your permission?"

"What!?!"

"You said not to go through your stuff without your permission. Well, I'm asking for permission."

Naruto shook his head. "No!"

"You're really good."

Naruto averted his gaze. He was overprotective of his artwork. It was the only thing he had going for him. "I would prefer that you didn't."

Sasuke stared at him for a minute, and then turned away from the bookcase. "Fine."

Sakura was still gazing longingly at the bookshelf. Naruto could tell she really, really wanted to go through his sketchpads, but she sat down on the couch next to Sasuke.

"You guys want some tea?" Naruto repeated the forgotten question.

"Sure." Came the answer from both his teammates.

Their work went very quickly. Naruto was surprised. It had taken them a lot longer to finish the prior two times. Then it occurred to Naruto that they probably wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But that thought was refuted as soon as he voiced it.

"Let me see your homework." Sakura said.

"Why?"

"So I can see how you're doing."

Naruto hesitated, but gave her the homework that he had finished anyways. While she was looking it over, Naruto fidgeted.

"You did this all wrong." Sakura said, indicating Naruto's math homework.

"That's because I don't understand what I'm supposed to do." Naruto said through gritted teeth.

Sasuke took the page and looked it over. "It's simple algebra."

"That's what everyone tells me. They just don't understand that I don't understand! No one will explain it to me! I've taken the class twice and I still don't get it!"

"I can help you with it." Sakura said. She was reading through the essay he had written for History. "This is good."

"I don't need your charity." Naruto mumbled, crossing his arms.

Sakura glared at him. "It's not charity. Call it a friend helping a friend, or if you don't want to think of it that way, say that I'm helping myself by helping you. It's not charity, and either way, you don't have a choice in the matter."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sakura kept talking.

"Look! I'm good at math. I want to help you." She was looking over his chemistry homework. "See? You are having a lot of trouble with chemistry too, and that's all math!"

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say. He still wanted to refuse. It felt too much like charity.

"I don't-"

"It's settled then! I'm going to tutor you in math!"

Naruto snapped his mouth shut. He could tell he wasn't going to win the argument.

"So. Tell us about last night." Sakura suddenly smirked.

"What!? No! That's none of your business!"

"Ahh. Come on! Don't be ashamed that you have a sex-life. I want to know. Or are you the 'I don't kiss and tell' type?"

Naruto gaped at her. "My sex life is just that. MINE!!!!"

Sakura playfully punched his shoulder. "And it looks like a good one from what I can see. Come on." She was whining by this point. "At least tell me who!"

"The people I sleep with are none of your business."

"People! You mean more than one! Naruto! I didn't know you were into that!"

Naruto flushed a dark red. "I-I- It usually is only one!"

Sakura grinned in triumph. "Ha! So there was more than one person last night! Tell me, was it just a threesome or was it a full out orgy?"

Naruto stared at her, horrified. He looked at Sasuke for help, but the bastard was just laughing at him.

"I stand by the fifth." Naruto pouted and refused to say anymore.

"I'm just kidding with you." Sakura giggled. "But it is interesting to know you are into orgies."

"It wasn't an orgy!!!!"

"Ha! So it was a threesome!!!!"

Naruto was horrified.

"So. Who were they?"

"I'm not saying another word."

"But Naruto-kun!!!!"

"No!"

"Don't be ashamed Naruto-kun! It just means you're a stud!"

"Shut up!"

"I want to know!!!!"

"Well you're not gonna!!!"

"I wont tell anyone, I promise!"

"Of course you wont tell anyone, because you're not going to know!!!"

"Sasuke! Don't you want to know who Naruto boned last night?"

"Not really."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

That night, Naruto fell into bed, exhausted. Sakura hadn't stopped whining the whole time Naruto was walking her and Sasuke back to the shopping center. Worse. Itachi was waiting there to pick up Sasuke.

Itachi had of course told Naruto that he looked like he 'had a busy night.'

This sent Sakura into another fit of giggles and Sasuke had once again been horrified.

Then, while Itachi had been talking to Naruto, Sasuke had started making perverse gestures behind his back and then pointing at his brother and then him. It had been horrible trying to keep a straight face, trying not to blush, and trying not to reveal just how true it was at the same time.

He passed out almost immediately after lying down, and didn't wake up until his alarm was going off the next morning.

He was even more sore when he woke up. He shrugged it off. It just meant that it had been a really good night.

Only one thing changed in his morning routine. Naruto was still very embarrassed over what had happened the day before, so he grabbed a scarf and wrapped it around his neck.

This would turn out to be a big mistake.

The minute Sakura saw him, she started laughing hysterically. Sasuke even looked thoroughly amused.

"Just shut up." Naruto snapped as he sat down.

But she didn't shut up. She kept laughing until the entire class was looking at her.

"What's so funny?" Someone asked from across the room. It was Kiba, the official class clown. "I could use a good laugh."

The only word Sakura could get out was "scarf." Then, she pointed at Naruto, still laughing.

Naruto crossed his arms and put his head in his arms. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

"What about his scarf?" Kiba had come over to their group.

"Nothing!" Naruto blurted out, sitting up and glaring at the still laughing girl across from him. "Absolutely nothing."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Really? I don't buy it. You hiding a hickey or something?"

Sakura stopped laughing just long enough to gasp out "More like twenty of them."

Naruto was mortified. Kiba was smiling widely. Suddenly, he snatched the scarf away from Naruto's neck.

"What the hell!?" Naruto tried to snatch the scarf back.

"You lucky bastard!" Kiba grinned. More people were laughing now, and Naruto was sure his face could rival a tomato.

Finally, Sakura stopped laughing. "It gets better." She grinned at Kiba.

Naruto was staring at her, completely at a loss for words. She wouldn't… He narrowed his eyes.

"He had a threesome!"

He couldn't believe it! She did it! She just told everyone in the room about one of his sexual exploits. Oh. He was gonna kill her.

Kiba patted him on the back. "You lucky, horny bastard." He gave the scarf back. "You should be proud man. Proud!"

Naruto hurriedly wrapped the scarf back around his neck and buried his face in his arms. He wanted nothing more than to disappear.

"See! It would have been a lot easier if you had just told me what I wanted to know." Sakura smirked.

"Oh fuck you."

"No thank you. I'm not into threesomes."

Naruto looked up at her long enough to give her one good glare before he hid his face in his arms. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

It was one of the most mortifying days of his life. Around every corner, someone was coming up to him and making comments about his sex-life. By the end of the day, he had been patted on the back more times than he could count, and he was sick of people telling him that he was their 'hero.'

"Naruto!"

He turned around to see Sakura running after him as he left the school. He ignored her and just kept walking.

"Naruto!" She caught up to him, and he gave her the dirtiest look he could.

"Do you want to come over? We could start your tutoring."

Naruto stopped for a minute. "I can't. I have to work."

"Oh. Well, we'll talk about it some more tomorrow. I'm not going to let you weasel out of it."

Naruto shrugged and kept walking.

"Bye!" She called after him. He waved half-heartedly.

Naruto couldn't believe her. He was sure that everyone in the school now knew that he was into threesomes. That was fantastic.

"Son of a bitch!" He swore and kicked at the sidewalk.

A little voice told him to look on the bright side. At least he had actually managed to impress the people at school instead of giving them another reason to look down on him.

Well, except for the few kids that were all goody-goody, that is. In fact, it was the first time that most people had even looked at him without insulting him.

"Hey! Naruto!" Someone yelled from behind him. He turned around to see Kiba a little ways behind him. He was torn between waiting for the other boy and trying to make a run for it.

He ended up waiting.

"What's your secret?"

Naruto wasn't sure how to answer the question. "What do you mean?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "I know when I mention the word 'threesome,' girls go running. How did you manage it?"

Naruto shrugged. "I got invited."

The look on Kiba's face was priceless. "Oh! You mean like they were a couple and wanted to try something new! You're so damn lucky! Where do you hang out?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "I don't really like talking about my sex-life."

Kiba frowned. "You have to be proud man." Then he thought for a second. "Wait! Does that mean you've had other threesomes!?!"

Naruto could feel himself blushing again, and didn't answer.

"Man! You have got to tell me your secrets!"

"There are no secrets." Naruto started walking again. "I have to go to work."

Kiba kept following him. "No secrets? Then how do you manage it?"

"I just do."

"But how!?!"

"I don't know! It's something that just happens! I'm out at a club and someone say's 'threesome' and I go with it! It just happens!"

Kiba was silent for a minute, and he was still following Naruto, much to his displeasure.

"Have you ever had a foursome?"

Once again, the blood rushed to Naruto's face, giving the answer away.

"Dude! You're awesome!"

"Look!" Naruto stopped abruptly. "I have to go to work. I'm already running late, so I'll talk to you later."

Kiba patted him on the back. "You're my hero."

Naruto glared as the obnoxious boy walked away.

"I swear, I'm going to punch the next person who tells me I'm their hero." Naruto muttered under his breath as he continued down the street.

"You're my hero!" A man said as he passed by, sneering. Naruto promptly landed a punch square on his nose.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"You know, Naruto, a foursome counts as an orgy." This was the first thing out of Sakura's mouth the next day.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was talking to Kiba, and he said you admitted to having a foursome."

Naruto was instantly beet-red. "I did nothing of the sort!"

"Don't lie, Naruto. You have to be proud!" She was taken by another giggle fit. Across the room, Kiba saluted him.

Naruto sunk down in his chair as low as he could go and hid his face in his hands. "Somebody please shoot me."

"I would." Sasuke said as he sat down. "Unfortunately, they have this no firearms at school policy, so you're out of luck."

"It's the thought that counts." Naruto muttered.

"Don't worry. It'll pass." Naruto was shocked when Sasuke gave him a pat on the back.

Suddenly, Kiba was sitting down by them.

"So. Sakura. What else can you tell me about Naruto's sex life?"

Naruto choked. "Why can't everyone just mind their own fucking business!?!"

Kiba smiled. "What fun would that be? And how come we haven't heard anything about Sasuke's sex life?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm not stupid enough to let Sakura trick me into letting anything slip."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "He's right. He's not stupid enough."

"Gee. Thanks." Came Naruto's morose voice.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. It's not that your stupid, it's just that you're easily flustered."

"That's encouraging."

"Yeah. That's how I found out he's had a foursome." Kiba added in. "See, I was asking him these questions and he would turn really red whenever the answer was yes."

"Really!?!" Sakura asked excitedly. "So, Naruto! Was it anyone I know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"You have to look at me so I know whether you're telling the truth!"

"Just leave me alone!"

"Be proud!" Kiba thumped him on the back and returned to his own side of the classroom as Ebisu walked in.

That day was just as bad, if not worse than the last. News of Naruto's 'foursome' had spread like a disease.

Naruto only found sanctuary for a brief amount of time as he hid out in the library during lunch. It was relatively peaceful, until Kiba found him.

"Naruto! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I figured as much. Apparently I'm not as good at hiding as I thought."

"So. What's the biggest orgy you've ever had?"

"Go away."

"Come on! I want to know! Was it five? Six? Ooh! Say seven and I'll become your devoted student and call you master!"

Naruto gaped at him. "You are a complete pervert!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing!"

"That's because it is! My sex life is none of your damn business!!!!"

Kiba pouted. "Don't you get it? Most guys would kill to get your sex-life! You would be doing a favor to men everywhere."

Naruto just stared at him blankly.

"Please go away."

"Fine! But one day I expect to get all the answers!" He turned and walked away.

Naruto watched him go with a completely incredulous look on his face.

"I'm gonna kill Sakura."

* * *

Naruto accepted Sasuke's offer for a ride that afternoon. He was tired, and he was dreading the 'out of class' meeting they were heading to.

This time, it was Sakura who met them at the door.

"My dad's using the den, so we're going to be in my room today." She told them, leading them up the stairs and to her giant suite. "He's having an important business meeting." She explained.

Naruto nodded. He looked around her room in awe. Once again, he was in a room that was bigger than his apartment. There was a wall sized aquarium, with multi-colored fish. He had to admit, out of all the expensive things he had ever seen, that was the coolest.

"I don't think we should have meetings at your place, Naruto. It's too far to walk, and your neighborhood scares me."

Naruto snorted. "That's what I tried to tell you, but Ebisu had to go and stick his nose in it and put his damn foot down."

"I already talked to Ebisu. He said it would be fine if we met somewhere else for the third day."

"Well I'm glad he listens to you."

"Then where are we going to meet?" Sasuke asked.

"We could do it here on Mondays." Sakura suggested.

"I work on Monday'." Naruto objected.

"Then how about Saturdays at my place?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto scowled. "I'm busy on Saturdays."

"It would be nice to have Saturdays off." Sakura agreed.

"Well, when does that leave?" Sasuke snapped. "We're running out of days of the week."

"There's this public library-"

"No!" Both Sakura and Sasuke replied.

"We can still do Sundays." Sasuke said. "We'll do them at my house."

Both Sakura and Naruto agreed.

"So. Naruto. You're _busy_ on Saturdays?"

Naruto grimaced. "That's none of your business!"

Sasuke butted in before Sakura could reply. "I am really tired of hearing about Naruto's sex life. Can we please drop it!?!"

Sakura pouted, but didn't continue on the subject.

Their work for the day was done in no time.

"So. Naruto. About tutoring. We need to set a day."

Naruto sighed. "Honestly, Sakura, I don't have a lot of free time."

"And yet, you're busy on Saturdays?" Sasuke added. Naruto glared at him.

"I know you don't have a lot of free time. That's why I want to talk about it. We need to figure out when you have the free time to do it! When do you have to work?"

"Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday."

"Okay. So, we have our meetings on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Naruto, that only leaves Saturday. Are you sure you can't do it then?"

"Sakura. Saturday is the _only_ day I have. I need my Saturdays. I _need_ them." Naruto didn't want to admit it, but there was pleading in his voice.

"You both are being stupid. Why not do it on Sunday? After our meeting?" Sasuke pointed out. "You'll be together anyways."

"That would work!" Sakura said excitedly.

Naruto shrugged. "Whatever."

"Okay. It's settled then." Sasuke stood up. "We should probably get going."

Sakura nodded, and led them back downstairs. "See you guys tomorrow."

"I'll give you a ride."

Naruto glared. "I-"

"Just get in the damn car. I don't want to hear anything about 'charity' or about my car getting screwed up. If your really that worried about it, I'll only take you part way. And no. This isn't about my image."

Naruto was still glaring, but got in the car anyways.

"What is it about then?"

Sasuke gave him a dirty look. "I'm trying to be friendly. You know, the act of friendship."

Naruto snorted. "You want to be friends? With me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you don't want to be friends with anyone!"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's a lot more difficult than that. I'm an asshole on purpose."

"Really? I thought it was an accident."

"Just shut up and listen! I come from a family with a lot of money. I'm an asshole, and people still want to be my friend. That means that it isn't because of me, it's because of the money. You are the only person who doesn't like me because I'm an asshole, which means you're the only person that isn't there for the money."

Naruto gaped at him. "You want to be friends because I think you're an asshole?"

"Yep."

Naruto was silent for a minute. "Surprisingly, that makes sense."

Sasuke smirked. "Of course it does. I'm not an idiot. I don't say things just for the fun of it."

Naruto just glared at him. "You know, if we're going to be 'best-buds', you have to work on this whole 'asshole' thing."

"Screw you."

"Only in your dreams." Naruto grinned. Sasuke punched his shoulder.

"Ouch! What did I say about the asshole thing!?!"

"Just shut up, moron!"

"Keep your hands to yourself, bastard! Ouch!!!!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Damnit!!" Naruto swore at the empty room. He had been woken by his rumbling stomach. The alarm clock shone 3:52. It was way too early.

Sighing, he got up and went into the kitchen. He knew there was no way he was going to fall back asleep.

He mindlessly looked through his cupboards, not really paying attention. He knew there wasn't food in any of them. It was just a force of habit.

Cursing again, Naruto settled for a glass of water and sat down on the couch with a sketchpad. He needed to blow off some steam before he had to leave for school in a couple hours.

But he was distracted more than usual. He had lost his job about a month earlier. Not because he was a bad worker, but because the owner just couldn't afford to keep him on the payroll. Since then, he had been unsuccessful in finding another job.

He also hadn't seen hide or hair of Jiriaya in three months, and that put a damper on his ability to get any money. Come to think of it, now that Naruto was nearly desperate enough to seek out his uncle, he realized he didn't even know how to get in touch with the man.

"It's sad." Naruto told his sketchpad as he continued running his pencil over the page. "I'm pathetic."

He was loath to admit it, but he needed help. He kept telling himself over and over that he needed help. But that led to the problem of finding someone to seek help from.

True, he had become great friends with Sasuke over the past few months, and Sakura was definitely on the 'friends' list, but he wouldn't allow himself to ask his friends for help. Or to be more specific, his pride wouldn't allow him to do such a thing.

Naruto shook his head, tossing aside his sketchbook. He knew he was being stupid. He just couldn't help it. He had always been independent, at least for the most part, and the idea of accepting charity turned his stomach.

And for the most part, both Sasuke and Sakura had remained blissfully unaware of his predicament, or so he thought. Sasuke had mentioned something about him losing weight, and Naruto had just shaken it off as a result of 'stress.'

He sighed again, stretching out on the couch and trying to lose himself to sleep. It didn't work, and once again he was mulling over his thoughts and his empty stomach.

He stayed like this until a knock on the door jolted him. He slowly got up to answer it.

It was really no surprise to see Suiren and Taki standing there when he checked through the peephole. They were the only ones that would ever knock on his door, especially so early in the morning.

Naruto swung the door open. He shivered when the cool air hit his bare chest.

"Hey Naruto!" Suiren's smile turned to a frown. "You've lost weight."

Naruto nodded, ushering them in and grabbing his sweatshirt off the couch.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am!"

Naruto smiled. "It's no problem, really. I have fun watching Taki."

Suiren smiled. "Alright. Well, I'm pulling a double shift, so I won't be back until 11:00. My boss said that's the only way I can have tomorrow off to take care of Taki."

Naruto nodded, watching Suiren say goodbye to her daughter. She then gave Naruto a big hug and kiss and handed him a bag. Then she was gone.

Naruto took the bag to the kitchen, and glanced at Taki. The little girl looked nearly dead on her feet.

"Do you want to go back to sleep for a while?"

Taki nodded.

Naruto gently led her back to his bedroom and tucked her into bed. He came back to the kitchen and looked through the bag. There were some canned vegetables, and Naruto pulled out a can of beets. He found his can opener and started eating them out of the can.

Now, Naruto had never really been a fan of beets, but at that moment he felt like a king.

* * *

Naruto and Taki were lounging on the living room floor, both working on a picture. Taki was doing something with a lot of color, and Naruto was sketching a picture of Taki with her mom. It was mid-afternoon. Taki had woken up around nine, and since then, Naruto had been hard pressed trying to entertain the little girl. She was a bouncing bundle of energy, and Naruto had hardly had a chance to take a deep breath.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Naruto glanced at the clock. Suiren was home a lot early.

Taki ignored the door and continued drawing, her brow furrowed in concentration, and Naruto opened the door.

Except instead of Suiren, it was Sasuke, still in his school uniform and looking pissed.

"Did you drive here!?!"

"No! I took a cab." Sasuke snapped, stepping into the apartment. "Where the f-"

Naruto slapped a hand over his friend's mouth before he could finish the sentence. "Please. Language."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and smacked Naruto's hand away, his glare obviously stating 'I can say whatever the hell I want.'

But before he had a chance to say what he wanted to say, a small voice interrupted.

"Naru-chan!? Who's he?"

Naruto smiled at the little girl who was peeking at Sasuke from behind the couch.

"This is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Taki."

"Uh…. Hi?" Sasuke gulped, glancing between Naruto and the little girl.

"Hi Sasuke!" Taki ran up to the dark haired boy. "Are you Naru-chan's friend too? We're drawing! Do you want to draw too? Naru-chan makes really, really, really, really pretty pictures! He could teach you like he teaches me!"

Sasuke could only nod in agreement with the little girl, who promptly dragged him to the middle of the living room.

Naruto followed, smirking. Sasuke looked completely out of his element.

"See! Look what Naru-chan is drawing! And he's got lots and lots more!" Taki ran to the bookshelf and pulled off the nearest sketchpad. Naruto flopped down on the couch.

Even after months, Sasuke had yet to see any of Naruto's artwork. And that was easily being undone by the meanderings of a five-year-old.

"See! Isn't it pretty!?!"

Sasuke glanced up at him, silently seeking permission. Naruto nodded, and Taki continued to take her new 'friend' through several of Naruto's sketchbooks.

She had only gotten through a fraction of them when she got bored.

"You have to draw a picture too! That's what you do at Naru-chan's house!"

"Okay…" Sasuke agreed, taking the paper and crayon Taki handed him.

Taki beamed, and continued on her own picture. Sasuke stared at the paper for a while, and Naruto stifled a laugh. This didn't go unnoticed, and he received a glare.

"Why aren't you drawing!!?!!"

Sasuke turned to look at Taki. "I don't really like to draw."

"Oh. Okay then, you can be a model! Me and Naru-chan will draw you!"

A smile finally found its way onto Sasuke's face. "Alright."

Naruto obligingly took the paper Taki handed him and fished a pencil out of his pocket. He started to sketch Sasuke, who was watching them curiously.

"Don't forget to sign it!" Taki demanded when Naruto was done. She carefully spelled out her name on her own picture and showed it to Naruto.

Naruto smiled as he looked at the childish picture that looked nothing like Sasuke. His hair was green.

"That's very good, Taki-chan!"

Taki beamed, and grabbed Naruto's picture and showed it to Sasuke, along with her own.

"See! I drew this one, and Naru-chan drew that one!" She grabbed her picture back, and ran into the kitchen, where she taped it on the fridge.

"See! And you can hang that one on your fridge!!!"

Sasuke nodded, still examining the drawing. "It's very good."

"See!!! I told you!!!"

* * *

A few hours later, Taki had fallen asleep on the couch. Naruto carefully lifted the sleeping girl and took her back to his bed.

When he came back into the living room, Sasuke was still looking through his sketchbooks.

"Naruto, this is amazing. Why aren't you in art?"

Naruto sat down on the couch, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I guess I just don't like people seeing my art."

Sasuke snorted. "I would have never guessed. Why not?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm a private person. And I've never had any formal art training, so I guess I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself."

"I don't think you should worry about that. You're a natural."

Naruto was silent, and Sasuke shut the book he was looking at. He slid it back into the bookshelf and leveled Naruto a stare that clearly said 'we need to talk.'

"So. Taki. Is she your-"

Naruto quickly shook his head. "No. Her mom, Suiren is a friend of mine. You'll probably meet her later. But anyway, she's a single mom, can't really afford a baby-sitter, and her boss is a jerk. Taki was supposed to have school today but I think a pipe burst or something. Anyways, Suiren's boss wouldn't let her have the day off, and is only letting her have tomorrow off if she works a double-shift today."

Sasuke nodded. "Do you watch Taki a lot?"

"Not really. When I don't have school, I usually do, and sometimes when it's an emergency."

Sasuke was silent for a minute. "Sakura had a fit when you didn't show up today."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well she'll have to get over it."

Sasuke laughed. "I don't think that's going to happen. Ebisu chewed us out and assigned us all detention tomorrow after school. I told him that it wasn't going to happen, and he assigned us Saturday school too."

"Are you shitting me!? I hate that guy!"

Sasuke nodded. "It gets worse."


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I have been working on it, but I haven't had internet. Then, when I finally was able to get online, fanfiction did this lame little "can't log on because of a technical glitch thing." so... i figured I'd be nice and upload a whole bunch of chapters :D**

**Chapter 12**

"How could it get worse than that?"

"Your uncle stopped by the school today."

"What!?!" Naruto swore under his breath. "Damnit! I missed him!?! And I really need to see him!!! Damnit!!"

"Well can't you call him up?"

"I don't know how to get a hold of him."

"Well you're in luck. I think he said something about coming back in a couple days."

Naruto sighed. "That's good."

"How can you not know how to get a hold of your guardian?"

"I don't know! It's been this way for a long time! He comes to see me at school every few months, and he pays for my apartment. Other than that, I'm left to my own devices."

Sasuke was silent again.

Naruto felt no need to interrupt this silence, instead leaning back on the couch and letting his eyes slip closed. He was incredibly tired.

"You really should take art. Gai would be thrilled to have you in his class."

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at his friend. Sasuke was looking through yet another of Naruto's sketchpads.

"Have you ever worked on a larger scale? Or with other medium?"

Naruto shook his head. "I never really had the chance. Paints and stuff are too expensive."

Sasuke nodded. "If you want-"

"How many times do I have to tell you! I don't need your damn charity!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That's not what I was going to suggest. I was going to say that if you wanted to work with paints, or charcoal, or even marble, the art department would supply it."

"Oh." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't know…"

"You should at least give it a try."

"Maybe."

Sasuke glared at him. "Then it's settled. We'll go see Gai sensei tomorrow and get you signed up. I don't think you would get out of English or Math, but you could probably get out of Chemistry with special permission from Tsunade."

"Didn't I just say I wasn't sure! You can't make up my mind for me!"

"Well, I just did."

"And if I don't want to!?"

"You do want to."

"Damnit! You're starting to sound like Sakura!"

Sasuke punched him half-heartedly in the knee. "Hey. I'm doing you a favor. Besides, wouldn't art be better than chemistry?"

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, but nodded.

Sasuke looked smug.

"Bite me."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I'm sure my brother would appreciate the offer, though."

Naruto snorted and threw one of the couch cushions at the smirking brunette, who caught it easily and threw it back.

Their bickering continued until there was a knock on the door. Naruto jumped up to get it.

"Hey Suiren, Taki's asleep… What's all that?"

The woman was holding three huge bags packed to the brim with groceries. She brushed past the blonde and made her way to the kitchen. "It's food."

Naruto closed the door and gaped at her. "You didn't have to-"

"Yes I did!" Suiren put the bags down and turned to the blonde with a critical look. "This is an intervention. What's the bet if I go through your cupboards I wont find an ounce of food?"

Naruto shifted uneasily, but didn't say anything. He could almost feel Sasuke's glare.

Suiren took Naruto's silence as an opportunity to continue her lecture. "Look, I know you're into doing everything for yourself, and you're good at it. But how long has it been since you got fired? There's a point when you need to ask for help. You can't just waste away and hope that you find another job before you starve."

Naruto crossed his arms. He hated it when Suiren went all 'motherly' on him. She was really good at shaming him when she needed to. "It's not like that. My uncle-"

"Your uncle? That was your master plan? To wait until that no-good man showed up to give you a couple hundred dollars? Naruto Uzumaki! You should have come to me!"

"Or me!"

Naruto jumped when Sasuke suddenly entered the conversation. Suiren, apparently, had not noticed the dark haired youth, because she jumped higher than Naruto.

There was an awkward pause.

"Sasuke, this is Suiren. Suiren, Sasuke."

They both nodded in acknowledgement.

"What's this about letting yourself starve?" Sasuke's voice had a deadly edge.

"I'm not-"

"You can see your ribs, Naruto." Suiren butted in.

Naruto frowned, feeling cornered. "It's not that bad."

Suiren snorted. "You're a toothpick. Now stop arguing. I'm going to help you whether you like it or not!"

Naruto muttered the word "charity" under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, Suiren heard.

"Do not pull that 'charity' bull with me, young man!"

Naruto cringed, feeling more and more like a little boy.

"We've been through this too many times. I am not giving you charity. You've helped me out too many times to count, and as a friend, I am returning the favor and helping you out when you need it!"

Naruto felt his face heating up, and didn't say anything.

"It's late, and I'm going to get Taki and go home. If I ever find that you've done anything like this again…" Suiren let her threat hang in the air and made her way to the bedroom. She reappeared, carrying a still sleeping Taki. Her features softened as she approached the blonde again.

"I'm only doing this because I care about you." She ruffled his hair with her free hand and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your friend." She added in a whisper before she left the apartment.

Naruto locked the door after her, but didn't immediately turn around to face Sasuke. He could tell the brunette was fuming.

"How long?"

Whereas a month before, Naruto would have asked Sasuke to clarify that he meant 'how long since you got fired?', Naruto could now read the boy well enough to know what he meant.

"About a month and a half…"

"And how long would you have waited on your uncle before you came to me?"

Naruto shrugged as he finally turned around to look at his friend.

"Damnit Naruto! What the hell were you thinking!?"

Naruto ignored him and plopped down on the couch.

Sasuke angrily moved until he was directly in front of him, glaring down at the blonde. "You are a moron. Being friends doesn't mean I'll be there just for the shits and giggles. I expect you to come to me when you're in trouble, including when you're starving!"

Naruto tried to get up and push Sasuke out of his way, but Sasuke roughly pushed him back down. "I would have helped you!"

"Damnit! I don't need charity!"

Naruto almost winced at the murderous look that passed over Sasuke's face. He did wince when the boy in front of him slapped him. Hard!

Naruto stared in shock for a minute before he was in Sasuke's face.

"Did you just _slap_ me!?"

"Someone has to slap some sense into you!"

"You just SLAPPED me!!!!!"

"Damnit, Naruto! You are ten different types of stupid! Why the hell wouldn't you come to me!?"

"Because it's none of your damn business! So fuck off!"

"No! I will not just fuck off! Why won't you let me help you!?"

"Because!" Naruto roughly pushed the boy away from him. "You said it yourself, all anyone is interested in is your money! So how would it look if I came asking for help!"

Sasuke stared at him, a purely incredulous look on his face. "Are you serious!?!"

Naruto crossed his arms and glared.

"I know you aren't in it for the money! You don't have to prove it! You have never asked me for anything!!! Do you really think that I would think you were gold-digging if you came up to me and said 'hey! I lost my job and I have no food!'"

Naruto was pointedly avoiding Sasuke's eyes. "I don't know."

"I'm not going to look down on you if you need help!"

"I don't like to accept-"

"If you say the word 'charity' I am going to beat your ass to a bloody pulp, got it! It's not charity! It will never be charity! And if you ever suggest I am trying to be 'charitable' again, I will put my foot so far up your ass-"

"I get it!" Naruto snapped, still not meeting Sasuke's eyes.

"Glad we're on the same page."

Naruto glared. Sasuke glared right back.

Finally Naruto sighed and broke their staring contest. "Whatever. I'm tired. You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

"What?" Sasuke looked slightly confused at the change in topic.

"It's midnight. We have school tomorrow, and I'm not going to let you go prancing out of here at night. You'll be in found dead in a ditch somewhere.

"Oh." Sasuke replied. "Alright."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Naruto could feel his eyebrow twitching. He was trying to wake Sasuke up. He had been trying to wake him up for a half hour.

"Damnit!" He shook the boy again. "Wake up! We have to leave! You know, school!"

One dark eye opened and looked at him, then looked at the clock by the bed. "It's too early."

"Well it takes that long to get to school from here."

Sasuke groaned. "No it won't. We'll call a cab."

Naruto growled, but left the boy there. Instead, he went into the kitchen and made some tea and packed a lunch from the food Suiren had brought him.

It was another half hour before Sasuke emerged, stumbling sleepily into the bathroom. Naruto rolled his eyes. He was already on his second cup of tea, and was on edge. It didn't feel right to still be sitting in his apartment.

Another twenty minutes later, Sasuke was finally ready to go. Naruto grabbed his bag, and ushered the boy out the door, carefully locking it behind him.

"Would you relax? We'll be there on time."

Naruto grumbled. "If you say so."

The cab was already waiting for them when they got down to the street. Sasuke let Naruto climb in first and casually told the cabby the address as he climbed in.

Naruto didn't say anything for most of the ride. He was still embarrassed about the previous night.

"I'm not going to tell anyone."

Naruto spared his friend a glance. "I know."

"Then stop fretting."

Naruto glared, but didn't take the bait.

Sasuke just sighed, and let the matter drop.

Much to Naruto's surprise, they reached the school early. When he voiced his surprise, Sasuke just smirked.

"Of course we're early. We have something to do."

Naruto was more than a little confused as Sasuke paid the cabby, giving the man a generous tip.

"What do we have to do?"

"You'll see." Sasuke's smirk widened.

Naruto followed Sasuke into the school and to a classroom he was unfamiliar with.

The teacher Naruto laid eyes on was wearing the most horrid green-spandex-thing he had ever seen, and he did not envy the man's eyebrows or his bowl-cut.

The teacher jumped up from his desk when Naruto and Sasuke entered the classroom.

"Hello, my youthful friends! What a lovely display of youth, arriving to school so early! How may I help you."

Naruto was horrified. Who the hell was this clown.

"Hello, Gai Sensei."

Naruto froze. That sadistic son-of-a-bitch! He gave Sasuke his best death-glare.

Sasuke ignored him and continued speaking. "My friend is interested in joining your art class."

"Really! I always welcome an addition to the youthful art of art!" The man's eyes sparkled.

"Yes. He's really good. Here are some of his drawings."

Naruto nearly had a heart attack when Sasuke handed the green-leotard-freak one of his precious sketchbooks.

The man quickly paged through the book, his eyes getting bigger and bigger.

"You're beautiful expression of youth is… is… BEAUTIFUL!!!!"

Naruto was horrified when the man burst into tears.

Sasuke just kept smirking.

"Of course! Such talent! Such exceptional talent! Why has our youthful friend not been in my art class before!?"

Naruto felt his face heating up, and once again Sasuke spoke for him.

"He's shy!"

Gai looked horrified. "One with so much youth and talent should never be shy! Be proud, my youthful friend, be proud!!!"

Naruto felt his eye twitch, but still didn't say anything.

"Of course, he will have to have permission to change into your class, so you'll have to talk to Lady Tsunade." Sasuke said pointedly.

Gai suddenly gave a thumbs up. "Never fret! I will see to it that you will be changed to my class this very day! Let's go!"

Naruto yelped when Gai suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. Looking back, Naruto saw Sasuke wave, still smirking. Naruto silently promised his friend a very violent, very painful death the next time he saw him.

Gai dragged him all the way to Tsunade's office, bursting through the door without knocking.

Tsunade, who had been sleeping on her desk, jumped awake.

"Lady Tsunade! A great injustice has been done to this young man's youthful spirit!" Gai said dramatically, waving his arms all over the place, still without releasing Naruto's arm. Naruto pulled his arm away, but was too slow in moving away from the man. Gai instantly had him in a strangling hug.

"Our young friend here is a youthful genius, and I must insist that he is put into my art class immediately!" He shoved Naruto's sketchpad into Tsunade's face with his free hand, to emphasize his point.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the half-strangled blonde trying to escape Gai's chokehold, and silently looked through the sketchbook. Then, she typed something into her computer.

"Very well. You wouldn't be heartbroken if you were taken out of chemistry, would you Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto, who had finally been released from Gai's death hug, shook his head, keeping a weary eye on the man.

Gai whooped. "This calls for a youthful celebration! I will do three laps around the school before class starts!"

And he was gone, leaving Naruto standing there, fidgeting uncomfortably.

Tsunade clicked a few more times on her computer, and then printed something. She chuckled, seeing Naruto's nervousness. "Gai is a little overbearing, but you'll get used to him. Here's your new schedule."

Naruto nodded, taking the piece of paper handed to him and quietly thanking her.

"I believe this is yours." Tsunade handed the sketchbook to the blonde. "You are very talented."

Naruto blushed again, and silently left the office, his mind set on finding the Uchiha so he could kill him.

However, before he could put his murder plot into action, he was cornered by Sakura.

"You!!!"

"Me?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

"Yes, you! You got us all detention AND Saturday school! Where the hell were you yesterday!?"

Before Naruto could retort, Sasuke broke in.

"Sakura, just drop it. It's none of our business. I'm sure he has his reasons, and if he wants to tell us, he will."

Sakura glared at him, then looked at Naruto. Then she looked back at Sasuke and then back to Naruto, a suspicious look passing over her face.

"Sasuke knows!?!"

"Why would you say that?" Sasuke asked coolly.

"Because if you didn't know, you would be bugging him about the answer too!"

Sasuke smirked, but didn't say anything.

"Naruto!" Her voice had turned whiny. "How come Sasuke gets to know, but I don't!?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Because you told the entire school about my sex life. You have a big mouth."

Her eyes went wide. "You skipped school to have SEX!?!?!"

Naruto's eyes widened as the entire class turned to look at him. "That's not what I said!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!!!" Naruto could feel the heat rising to his face again.

"Dude! You're awesome!" Came Kiba's call across the classroom. "You have got to tell me your secrets."

Naruto slammed his head on the table, ignoring the whispers of his interested classmates and Ebisu's impossible attempts to get the class back on topic. It was going to be a long day.

The long day was made worse by the arrival of Jiriaya, who happened to hear the newest story about Naruto's sex life as he was coming into the school. Oh how news traveled fast.

However, instead of being angry that his ward had supposedly skipped school for a fling, he was congratulating Naruto.

"Well done! From what I hear, you are the epitome of sex! That's my boy!" He patted Naruto heavily on the back, and handed him a couple hundred dollars. "I'm proud of you!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Hey, uncle Jiriaya?"

"Yes."

"How do I get a hold of you if I need to?"

Jiriaya frowned. "You don't know how to get a hold of me?"

Naruto shook his head.

Jiriaya carelessly pulled a card out of his pocket. "My number's on it."

"Thanks."

"You okay? You look kind of skinny."

Naruto snorted. "I lost my job."

Jiriaya blinked down at him. "Are you trying to tell me you're starving."

"No! I've got it figured out now! But I just want to know how to get a hold of you in case of future… problems…"

Jiriaya's eyes narrowed. "Okay. See ya later, kid."

Naruto sighed, watching his 'guardian' leave. Well, that was one problem solved. Now he just had to convince Sasuke of that.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Naruto stared in horror at the pair in front of him. It was his first time in art, and he swore he was seeing double.

He had thought that Gai was horrid. But that was before he saw the stunning, mini-me, student teacher, who looked exactly like Gai. Even the eyebrows matched.

And the kid even wore the same terrible green spandex and pranced around proclaiming the beauty of the spirit of youth.

Yep. Naruto wanted to shoot himself.

Rock Lee, as the student teacher had so joyfully introduced himself, was thrilled to pieces that Naruto had joined the class. He also broke down into tears with Gai when they looked through Naruto's sketchpad together.

Naruto's determination to kill Sasuke came back ten-fold.

After the initial introductions, however, and a lot of useless proclamations of youth, the class was rather enjoyable. Once they actually started on the day's work, Gai and Lee calmed down significantly.

"So, Naru-chan! What would you like to do for your first masterpiece in our class? Perhaps a stunning charcoal piece!? Or a moving oil painting!? Perhaps a sculpture to rival Michelangelo himself!?"

Naruto gaped. "Umm… I've never had a chance to work with anything other than a pencil."

Lee gasped. "Sensei! This poor genius has been deprived! We must do anything and everything to help him achieve the very best for his natural talent!"

"You are right, Lee. We must do it for the dreams of youth!"

Naruto was sure that if he was a character in some anime he would have sweatdropped.

"Would you like to try color! We have a nice assortment of paints and color pastels! Or perhaps charcoal! Yes, charcoal is always underestimated, but you can make it beautiful with your youthfulness!"

Naruto found himself agreeing just to shut the pair up.

And he also discovered that he really liked charcoal. It was kind of messy, hard to control, and right up his alley.

* * *

"So, little brother. I was quite worried when you didn't come home last night." Itachi said the moment Naruto and Sasuke walked through the door.

"I stayed at Naruto's." Sasuke replied shortly, walking past his brother. Naruto moved to follow.

"Really?" Itachi sounded interested. "I hope you played nicely with my little brother, Naru-chan." He said suggestively.

"What!?" Sasuke whipped around to stare at his brother. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

"I did not think you were so naïve, little brother. I hope that Naruto was gentle."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and the color flooded his face. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Am I not allowed to be concerned about my little brother? You're first time could be scary, and a little painful, and I just wanted to make sure that-"

"We didn't have sex!!!!!!!" Sasuke all but shrieked, his face growing redder by the second.

"You didn't? Naru-chan. I'm disappointed. You missed a perfectly good opportunity."

It was Naruto's turn to blush.

"I'm not gay!" Sasuke insisted loudly. "You're the one who works in a gay bar!"

Itachi smirked. "You know perfectly well that I only do that to irk our parents. You, on the other hand, are very gay, little brother. Even if you haven't realized it yet."

Sasuke sputtered, and Itachi quickly swept out of the room.

Naruto avoided looking at Sasuke. He was trying to keep the panic from rising. That had been entirely too close for comfort.

"I'm not gay."

Naruto finally looked up at Sasuke. The brunette was still fighting down the blush, and his arms were crossed. He looked very defensive.

"Okay." Naruto shrugged, discreetly taking a deep breath.

"Okay? What does that mean?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It means that I don't care either way. You could be a flaming homo and it wouldn't bother me, and it wouldn't bother me if you were straight as a ruler. I don't care."

Sasuke glared for a minute. "I still think he's hot for you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Think what you want. But please, let's drop the subject before Sakura gets here. I don't want this going all over the school too."

Sasuke nodded, the remnants of a blush still on his face.

They quickly retreated to the library and awaited Sakura's arrival.

However, once Sakura got there, it wasn't the smooth sailing they had hoped for. Itachi gleefully interrupted.

"Little brother, have you not offered our guests some refreshments? You know, just because you slept with dear little Naru-chan doesn't mean you can forget that you are a host, and therefore responsible for the happiness of our guests."

Naruto stared in horror at Itachi, while Sasuke suddenly lunged for his brother.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Itachi fled, with Sasuke close on his tail, and Naruto was left alone with a very interested Sakura.

"You… and Sasuke… oh…."

Naruto banged his head on the table. "There is no me and Sasuke. Itachi is just being a jerk."

Sakura apparently didn't hear him, because the next second she was squealing. "That is so hot!!!! Oh! This is great! You and Sasuke did the naughty!!! That is fantastic! I didn't know you were so adventurous, Naruto! Well, I guess I should have known it, considering you are into threesomes, and foursomes, and who-knows-how-many-moresomes. But I really didn't think Sasuke was into that!"

"I'm not!" Sasuke snapped as he came back into the room.

"There's no need to be ashamed!"

"I'm not ashamed of anything! Because there's nothing there to be ashamed of! We didn't have sex!"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, noticing the brunettes face was burning red again.

"Oh! You are lying! You're just as red as Naruto! That means you did have sex! I can't believe it!"

"Sakura!" Naruto looked at the pink haired girl, whose eyes were sparkling with glee and mischief. "We did not have sex. Itachi is making it up. And since we did not have sex, I expect you to keep your mouth shut about it. I don't care if you don't believe it, the simple truth is that we didn't. And even if we did, it isn't yours, or anyone else's business. Got it?"

Sakura's grin wavered a bit at the seriousness in Naruto's voice, but it returned full force. "I understand. It's your business."

Naruto glared at her, not at all pacified. "I'm warning you."

Sakura giggled. "There is nothing you can do that will keep me from spreading this around."

Sasuke looked about ready to kill the girl, and suddenly, Naruto had a plan. "If you tell people that me and Sasuke are in anyway more than friends, I will make sure the entire school knows that you and Lee have a hidden relationship."

Sakura frowned, apparently thinking. Sasuke just started laughing.

"Lee? Who is Lee?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Rock Lee. Art nut. Bowl cut. Big eyebrows. Green spandex."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't."

"I won't if you won't."

She pouted. "Fine. But do you know how hard it will be to keep this juicy bit of information to myself!? This is worth gold! I don't know why I never suspected it before!"

"Because there's nothing to suspect!"

"You don't have to deny it to me anymore! I know the truth!"

"Just shut up!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Naruto was staring at his 'guardian' in shock. It was the second time he had seen Jiriaya in two weeks, and it had his stomach twisting with nerves. The last time he had seen Jiriaya that often had been when Tsunade had threatened to expel him because he had put blue dye in the pool.

"We have to go see Iruka." The older man said. The final bell had rung about two minutes before and Naruto had walked out of class to see his uncle waiting for him. "He said it was important."

"I can't tonight. I have this stupid 'teamwork' meeting to go to." Naruto said.

"Well you're going to have to miss it, brat!"

"It's not that easy, perv!"

Jiriaya sighed, rubbing a hand through his long white hair. "What time is this teamwork thing?"

"4:00."

"We should be done before then. Is it okay if you're a little late?"

Naruto thought about it. He would have to ask Sasuke.

"I'll meet you in the parking lot." He headed out of the building in search of his teammate.

"Took you long enough." Sasuke said when he saw the blonde approaching. "Let's go."

"I can't go." Naruto said. "My uncle is here, and I have to go take care of something with him. I'll be there a little late." He knew he was being vague, but Naruto really didn't feel the need to tell him that his 'business' involved his social worker.

Sasuke was frowning. "What kind of business?"

Naruto shrugged. "Just stupid stuff that I can't get out of. I'll see you in a while."

Sasuke roughly got in his car, slamming the door and peeling out of the parking lot. Naruto sighed and went to find his uncle.

Iruka's office wasn't very comfortable. Naruto always thought this was strange seeing as the man dealt with 'problem kids' for a living. You'd think he would have a comforting office.

Jiriaya and Naruto weren't kept waiting at all. Iruka was waiting for them, and he looked serious. Naruto hated when the man was serious, because it was never a good thing for him. Never.

"How are you doing, Naruto? Keeping up your grades, I hope."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm getting some help in math." So, the tutoring with Sakura wasn't going well, but he was trying, and that was what mattered, right?

"Good." Iruka was fidgeting. He only fidgeted when he was nervous. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man.

"What's going on?"

"Well, you see…" It looked like he was trying to find the right words. "This might be hard, and a little shocking… but it could be a good thing too…"

"Just spit it out!"

Iruka glared at Naruto's rudeness, but ignored it. "Naruto. Your father contacted me. He wants to meet you and he wants a blood test to be done to prove that you're his son."

Naruto's jaw dropped, and shock filled him. Even Jiriaya looked a little thrown off.

Iruka continued. "It's a very rare situation, and if you were a few years younger the paperwork would have already been started. But since you're seventeen, I thought I'd ask. I talked to my boss and she thinks it would be best if you made the final decision. You don't have to give me an answer today, if you don't want to. I told him that it would take a while to process the paperwork. Naruto? Are you okay?"

Naruto was tugging roughly on his hair. "No! I'm not!?! Why!? Now of all times… What the hell would that be like? 'Hi! You don't know my name, but I'm your father! Nice to meet you! Oh, by the way, I'm not entirely sure I'm your father, so I want you to take a blood test to prove it! And if I'm not, sorry for fucking with your head! Have a nice day!'" Naruto grimaced. "I can totally see this going over well. No!"

"Don't you even want to think about it?"

Naruto glared at his uncle. "Would you do it?"

Jiriaya rolled his eyes. "Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. But we're not talking about me, we're talking about you."

"Look. You don't have to decide right this instant, Naruto. My boss is running a background check on him, and that'll take a few days. So, why don't you think about it some, and give me the answer next time?"

Naruto nodded. He felt numb.

"Alright. Thank you for coming! I know it was short notice, but I thought you should know that he's been looking around. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

Naruto stood up, and turned to leave the office. He stopped at the door. "There is one thing."

"Yeah?"

"What's his name?"

Iruka looked taken aback. "I don't know if I should tell you that, Naruto."

Naruto scowled. "I just want to know his name, so I can curse the damn bastard. I'm not going to meet him, and I sure as hell won't take some damn blood test for the benefit of his peace of mind to know whether or not he has a son somewhere in the world. I just want to know his name so I can laugh at him and imagine all the trouble he's going through for nothing."

Iruka frowned. "I can't…"

"Please? I need to know."

Iruka was silent for a moment. "Arashi Shike."

Naruto closed his eyes and repeated the name under his breath. "Thanks, Iruka."

The car ride to Sasuke's house was silent. Jiriaya finally spoke when they pulled into the driveway.

"You should consider it."

Naruto looked at him. "Why?"

"Because you may not get another chance."

Naruto snorted. "That seems fair. I get just this one chance to meet a man who _could_ be my father. I wonder, how many chances has he had? I don't think so."

"You're not being open minded about this."

"What's to be open minded about? Oh! Right! I consider all the possibilities, right? Hmm… Maybe he's curious! Wants to know if I turned out like him or more like my mother! Maybe he feels guilty! If that's the case, it serves him right! Whatever the reason, meeting him will only turn out bad!"

"Naruto! I'm not trying to justify the fact that he was never there! I just think that maybe you should give him a chance-"

"If you want me out of your hair so badly, why don't you just send me back to social services saying I'm a problem child! Don't count on the fact that I'm going to bond with some stranger, call him 'daddy' and have some happy life with him!" Naruto got out of the car, slamming the door shut. He ignored the shocked look on Jiriaya's face.

Some part of him knew that he was being irrational, and that Jiriaya was just trying to be supportive in his own way. But he didn't care. He walked quickly up to the house. Behind him, he heard Jiriaya's car

Arashi Shike. He scowled and knocked. A second later, the door was opened and Itachi was looking down at him.

"Hi Itachi." Naruto tried to force a smile, but it didn't work as well as he'd hoped.

"Hello, Naru-chan. Please, come in."

Naruto followed him into the house.

"Whatever is the matter?"

Naruto just shrugged. "Well, you know. New shit, same day."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Anything I can do?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'll just have to deal with it I guess. Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work."

Itachi smirked. "I have the day off. Schoolwork. You know what I'm talking about."

Naruto smiled half-heartedly. "Well, we have a problem in common, then. I should probably get to work with Sakura and Sasuke. You're brother's already pissed at me that I couldn't come earlier."

Itachi shook his head. "That's not why he's mad." He started walking, and Naruto followed. "He's mad that you wouldn't give him a decent explanation as to why you couldn't come."

Naruto scowled. "That's none of his damn business."

"I know. But he came home muttering something about a friend who doesn't trust him and disrespects him by thinking so little of him."

Naruto shifted nervously. "It's not that. It's just that every single thing he wants to know is very, very personal."

"You know, Naruto. If you continue like this, you're never going to get in his pants."

"That's because I'm not trying to!"

Itachi laughed a little. "Sure you aren't."

"I'm not!"

Itachi gradually led him to a door. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the man before he opened the door.

"Little brother, Naruto is here."

Naruto looked into the room. Sakura only briefly looked up from what she was writing, and Sasuke gave him a full-fledged glare. "It's about time! Don't just stand there! We have work to do!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, and sat down at the table across from them. Itachi came up behind him and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Don't worry. He usually isn't this bitchy." Itachi whispered in his ear. Sasuke was watching the scene play out through narrowed eyes. "Although." Itachi's voice was even quieter, and Naruto barely heard what he said. "Sometimes that could be a good thing, if you get my drift."

Naruto coughed, trying to cover up the blush that was spreading over his face. Itachi turned and swept out of the room, and Sakura's eyes were gleaming. Sasuke was glaring after his brother.

"Oh! That is so hot. Naruto, if you ever do have sex with Itachi, could I watch?!"

Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "Don't count on it."

"What did he say to you!?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto shook his head. "You don't want to know. So. What are we doing today?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Naruto!"

"Naruto!"

Smack!

Naruto yelped and rubbed the back of his head, before turning to glare at Sasuke. "What the hell was that for!?"

"I called you four times! Pay attention! I'd like to get this done before midnight."

Naruto scowled. "And you think I don't!"

"Not really, with the way you keep zoning out!"

"Well sorry if I'm a little distracted! It won't happen again."

Naruto forced himself to turn his attention back to the project. He managed to stay focused for a while, but before he knew it, his thoughts turned on him.

Arashi Shike. Why did this man, who claimed to be his father, want to meet him? Was he genuinely interested in how his son turned out? Did he want to become part of his life? Or was it something different? And should he agree to meet him?

"Naruto!"

If he did agree to meet him, what could go wrong? A whole lot of things.

"Naruto!"

But there were also a whole lot of things that could go right. What if the man had good intentions?

SMACK!

"Damnit Sasuke! Stop doing that!"

"Then pay attention! Sakura asked you a question!"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Sakura. What?"

Sakura looked thoughtful. "You know what? How bout we finish this on Sunday? You have other things on your mind, and I was planning on going out tonight. Is that okay, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded, still glaring at the blonde.

"Alright! I'll see you guys later."

Naruto watched her leave, then turned back to look at Sasuke.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing. Just have a lot to think about."

"Such as…?"

Naruto scowled. "It's not something you would understand."

"Really? And why is that? I mean, what could be so outrageous that I couldn't possibly understand? I mean, I recognize that you still don't know me very well and there are plenty of things that you don't want to tell me yet, but just say that! Don't treat me like I'm some stupid rich kid with no emotions! I am very capable of understanding what goes on in other people's lives! So try me, you might be surprised."

Naruto bit back a retort and forced himself to take a deep breath. "You're right. I don't know you very well. I also have severe trust issues, as in, I've never been able to trust anyone. At all. I don't like trusting people, because it always comes back to bite me in the ass."

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And what do you think I would do if you did trust me?"

Naruto snorted. "What other people do when they find out my secrets. You'd run your mouth, and soon everyone would know!"

Sasuke looked murderous. "Have you ever seen me gossip!?"

Naruto sneered. "Doesn't mean you wouldn't do it."

"I don't like people! I don't talk to them if I can avoid it! There is nothing you could tell me that would change that! At the very least you have that security! And on top of that I'm not the horrible person you seem to think I am!"

Naruto was silent for a minute. "I had to go see my social worker."

Sasuke instantly opened his mouth to retort, but snapped it closed again. "Oh. Is that the big secret?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's just one of those things…"

Sasuke nodded. "Why?"

"Because if people know that I have a social worker, they want to know why, and then that leads to pity and I hate pity!"

"No! Why did you have to go see him? That's why you were so out of it, isn't it?"

Naruto was silent. "It was bad news. Or maybe it was good news. Damnit! I don't know!" He crossed his arms and bit his tongue. "It's complicated."

Sasuke was silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Iruka- he's my social worker- well, he called up Jiriaya and was all like 'It's important!' So Jiriaya comes and picks me up and we go over there and then Iruka's all like 'You're father contacted me and wants to meet you and do a blood test so he knows you're his kid.' Now, I finally know the man's name, and I don't know if I actually want to meet him and take the stupid test or if I want to say 'screw it' and go on pretending it never happened."

Sasuke didn't say anything, and Naruto kept ranting.

"How the hell am I supposed to react to that? Some douche bag who I've never met before wants to meet me because he was supposed to be 'daddy-dearest,' but I also have to take a test to prove it! What the hell could he want with me after seventeen years? Is he just a bastard who wants to show up and see what he missed, if anything? Or does he have an acceptable reason? Either way, it can't turn out good." Naruto let his head fall to the table. "I don't know what to do."

"What if it does turn out good?"

"It won't."

"How do you know that?"

Naruto sat up. "Because I've been playing every possible scenario out in my head! It's most likely he's a bastard, and if he's not, it means that my mom was a bitch, and I'd rather remember her as my loving mother, because that's all I ever knew her as."

"But what if you're missing out on having a loving father?"

"That's something I can deal with, since I've been missing out on it my entire life!"

Sasuke frowned. "How about you just take it one step at a time. Do you know his name?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then it's simple! We'll look him up and spy on him."

Naruto gaped. "Spy on him?"

"Yeah. Then you can see what he's like and if you want to meet him."

Naruto scratched his chin, thinking. "That could actually work. How on earth did you come up with a plan like that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "When my dad wants to know about someone before he meets them he sends people to spy on them."

"Oh. But how am I going to find him?"

Sasuke was silent for a minute. "We'll try looking him up on the internet." He stood up. "My computer's upstairs."

Naruto hesitated. "You really don't have to do this."

"Do what?"

"Help me find my estranged father so I can spy on him. If you have something better to do, I'll understand."

"Moron! I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to help."

Naruto was silent for a minute. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"What's this I hear about spying?" Both boys jumped, and looked up to see Itachi standing in the doorway. "I didn't know you two were into such sinful activities."

"Just shut up!" Sasuke snapped. "What do you want?"

"Well, I saw Sakura leaving, which is quite upsetting seeing as I was going to ask her and Naruto to stay for dinner. But since Naruto is still here, I came to relay the invite."

"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to impose."

"There would be no imposing involved. In fact, I would be pleased."

Naruto gulped, glancing at Sasuke, who was staring at his brother. "I'd love to."

Itachi smirked. "Excellent. Dinner will be at 8:00 sharp. Sasuke, do try to be on time." He turned and left.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "He really is hot for you."

"Oh shut up!"

"I'm being serious! He would never invite Sakura to dinner! He waited until she was gone on purpose!"

"Sasuke, I think you're being paranoid."

"I am not! I saw him whispering in your ear! He is turning on the charm! He wants to get in your pants!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, fighting down the blush that was threatening to take over his face. "If you say so. I'm more inclined to think he's trying to play matchmaker."

Sasuke glared for a minute, and shook his head. He was still for a moment, staring at the spot his brother had been standing moments before. "Well, we should probably find out where he lives before dinner."

Naruto was confused for a second, then it clicked that Sasuke was talking about his father. He followed the dark haired boy up to his room.

He would have never told Sasuke, but Naruto could see the similarity in him and his brother's tastes just from how alike their bedrooms were.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Are you serious!?"

"I'm afraid so. I don't suppose you know how old he is?"

"Not a clue. How the hell can there be thirty-seven Arashi Shike's in this town?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I have no idea. But we can eliminate some. Anyone younger than 35. And anyone who's female."

Naruto snorted. "That still leaves twenty-three!"

Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "Somehow, I thought this was going to be easier. Alright. Lets start going through the list and see how many we can eliminate. Should we eliminate the really old guys?"

"I think so. Well, I hope so. I don't think my mom would have gone for an older man, but who knows."

"Alright. We'll get rid of the guys that are older than fifty. And after that, if we can't find him in the younger guys we'll start going through the older ones."

Naruto nodded. The excitement he had been feeling at first had worn off at the extreme redundancy of the activity.

"Okay. That only leaves sixteen."

"Only sixteen?"

"Hey! It's a hell of a lot better than thirty-seven!"

"Good point. So, how to we find him now?"

"I don't know." He printed off the list of addresses. "But it is a start. We might have to go through them one by one. Would it be possible for you to get any more information from Iruka?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. He said his boss was doing a background check. I'll go see him tomorrow morning to see what I can find out."

"Great! Then we'll be able to narrow the list even more!"

"Sasuke, you're a genius."

"I know."

"Hey. Didn't you're brother say dinner was at 8:00?"

"Son of a bitch!" Sasuke jumped up. "Let's go."

* * *

"You're late." Itachi said casually as Naruto followed Sasuke into the dining room. Three spots had been set. Naruto took his spot across from Sasuke. The minute they sat down, three servants entered, each setting a plate full of food in front of each of them.

"Thanks." Naruto said to the lady who served him. Her eyes widened, and she hurried out of the room. He saw Itachi raise an eyebrow, and Sasuke was still busy glaring at his brother.

"So. You two do know that stalking is illegal, right?"

Naruto choked on the bite of food he had just taken. "Who said anything about stalking?"

"Spying is only done by the professionals. When anyone else does it, it is classified as stalking. Who's the lucky target of your attentions?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Sasuke smirked.

"Actually, I really would. You see, if you were to get in trouble with the law, my dearest little brother, our parents would lay all the blame on me. You can see how that's my problem."

"We're not going to get into trouble." Naruto said, taking another bite of food. "It's someone we know."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're telling me you know your estranged father?"

"If you heard our entire conversation why are you bothering to ask us about it?" Sasuke snapped.

Itachi smirked. "It amuses me."

"Why the hell are you even here? Don't you have drinks to serve?"

"Nope. It's ladies night tonight."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Only in your life would that make sense."

Itachi didn't miss a beat. "Says the one who has never had a girlfriend."

"Say's the one who works in a gay bar!"

"Guys?"

"You know perfectly well why I work there, whereas no one knows why you so adamantly refuse the attentions of every girl who approaches you."

"Yes, you only work there to piss our parents off. And Deidara is only a 'friend,' right?"

"Guys?"

"Yes, and Naruto is the only person you have ever shown any sort of interest in, but he is only a 'friend,' right?"

"Of course he is! And he's sitting right here! And I'm not the one whose been fawning over him since the first minute he stepped foot in this house!"

"Oh, if you only knew, little brother."

"GUYS!"

Sasuke finally turned to look at Naruto, who had an exasperated look on his face.

"Can't you just agree to disagree? Each of you can have your own little world where you assume you are the strait one and your brother is the gay one. But it gets old listening to the 'I'm not gay, you are' routine."

Sasuke sighed, and finally turned to his plate of food.

Itachi, however, was smirking. "So, Naru-chan, in our little worlds, can we pretend you're gay too?"

Naruto's face went blank, and Sasuke choked on his food.

"I knew it! You are totally hot for Naruto!"

"On the contrary little brother, in my little world that Naruto granted me, I am the strait one and you are the gay one, and therefore I will take the opportunity to insist that Naruto is also gay and therefore assume that you two are lovers, and trying to keep it a secret."

Naruto let his head drop loudly on the table as the brother's once again started playing 'I'm not gay, you are.'

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath. He was standing outside of Iruka's office. He had spent the night at Sasuke's house, which had lead to a whole other round of Itachi making suggestive comments, and Sasuke had dropped him off at Iruka's. The plan was for Naruto to go in and get whatever information he could get, and then head back to Sasuke's house with the results.

Naruto took another deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Came Iruka's voice.

Naruto opened the door, and was met with Iruka's surprised face. Naruto didn't blame him for looking surprised. Naruto had never come to see Iruka on his own accord.

"Naruto! Have a seat! Is everything okay?"

Naruto purposely avoided the man's eyes as he sat down, and fidgeted a little. He knew Iruka would read it as a sign of nervousness.

"I don't know what to do." Naruto said simply, looking up at Iruka.

Iruka furrowed his brow. "About your father, you mean?"

Even though it was all a show, Naruto felt a twinge at the official-ness. When he was talking to Sasuke about it, it seemed like a game. With Iruka there, however, the seriousness of the situation hit home.

"Yeah…" Naruto gulped. He had a mission to accomplish. He took another deep breath. "I mean, I want to meet him, but I don't. I keep going through the what-ifs in my head! What if he's an asshole! Worse! What if he's not! How sure is he that he's my father? I mean, is it just a very slight chance? Or is it a 'most likely' type possibility? What do I do, Iruka?"

Iruka sighed. He did that when he was feeling stressed. "I know it's hard, Naruto. I can't tell you what to do. As far as him actually being your father, I think it's a very good possibility."

Naruto frowned at the man. "I don't know anything about him! For all I know he could be some womanizing-psychopath-truck driver who was just passing through town and knocked up my mom!"

Naruto saw Iruka's eyebrow go up.

"Worse! What if he's some really old dude! I really don't want to think about my mom with some dude that's Jiriaya's age! That's gross!"

"Naruto…"

"Or what if he's some douche-bag who seduced my mom so that he could get secretly videotape it and make a profit!?!"

"Naruto!" Iruka broke into Naruto's 'rant.' "I think you are being irrational."

"Am I? It's not like I don't have grounds to be suspicious! It's not like I've known the man my entire life! In fact, I don't know him at all! And he expects me to want to meet him!?"

Naruto could tell that Iruka was getting frustrated, and trying hard not to show it. "Naruto! Do you think I would even consider letting you meet the man if he was some psychopath!? Or a porn entrepreneur? And why would it matter if he's really old!?"

"Because it would! And how do you know he's not some psychopath!? How!?"

"Because I did some research! I'm not going to just blindly lead you to the wolves! You don't have to worry about any of those things! He's not a crazy truckdriver! He's only 36, and I highly doubt his bakery is a front for illegal porn!"

Naruto almost 'hoorahed.' Iruka really was too easy to manipulate. Instead of celebrating, he ran his hand through his hair. "You're probably right… But… Iruka, I'm scared."

Iruka sighed. "I know you are. It's going to be okay. He doesn't expect anything. In fact, I think he'll be surprised if you do agree to meet him."

Naruto nodded. "I want to think about it some more."

"I understand. Don't work yourself up about it. Come see me in a couple weeks and let me know."

"Okay." Naruto got up. "Thanks, Iruka."

Iruka smiled. "It's going to be okay."

Naruto nodded and left the office, barely hiding his triumphant smirk. How many 36 year old bakers named Arashi Shike could there possibly be?" He couldn't wait to tell Sasuke.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

It turned out that the information Naruto got was as good as gold, which was why Sasuke and him were currently creeping down the street to Arashi Shike the baker's house in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Naruto asked quietly.

"The garbage can."

"What?"

"We're going to go through his garbage. See if we find anything interesting."

"Oh. Like?"

"I don't know. I'll tell you if we find it."

Naruto fell silent, and they had finally made it to the desired house. He followed Sasuke to where the trashcans were stashed along the side of the house.

"This is kinda gross." Naruto pointed out, but lifted the lid none-the-less. Sasuke fished a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on.

Naruto grabbed the top bag and ripped it open. "Well, we know he likes cheese-its."

Sasuke snorted. "That doesn't tell us much."

"Well what else are we supposed to find? It's his _trash_."

"Dig deeper."

Naruto huffed, but complied, setting the now-ripped bag on the ground and reaching for the second one.

Before he could explore it's contents, however, a dog started barking, from somewhere close by, making both boys jump.

Naruto looked wildly around, and noticed someone on the other side of the street. He had a dog on a leash and was staring strait at them.

"Shit! There's someone there."

Sasuke quickly turned off the flashlight.

"What the hell are you doing!?" The person yelled. "I'm calling the cops!"

"Shit!" Both boys swore, and made a run for it.

The dog was barking up a storm as they bolted away, and the man was yelling. Lights started to turn on in houses all up and down the street.

They made it to the Wal-Greens where Sasuke had parked his car, and were soon on their way back to Sasuke's house.

"Well that didn't tell us anything useful." Naruto snapped. "And we almost got caught."

"Not almost, we did get caught. They just didn't catch us."

Naruto snorted. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Shut up! I've never done this before! I'm kind of playing it by ear!"

* * *

Sunday afternoon found them parked across the street from Arashi the baker's house in Sasuke's car. They were both wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, and they were both bored out of their mind. There was a car in the driveway, but they had yet to see the man.

"Well, this was a great idea." Naruto muttered.

"Shut up! You were the one that was freaking out about the whole thing."

"Oh right, and you wouldn't be freaking out if you were in my situation?"

"I don't know what I would do in your situation. But I'm trying to help you while it's still your situation to deal with!"

"Whatever. It still wasn't my idea! And I think it's kind of stupid to come back the day after we got caught going through his garbage." Naruto huffed, looking around. It was a sleepy little neighborhood.

"Hey! Who walks their dog at 3:00 in the morning?"

"I don't know! Maybe someone who has to leave for work by 4:00."

Sasuke slapped his arm.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"Look!"

Naruto quickly turned his attention back to the house they were watching. A man had just come out the front door.

"He looks just like you." Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto couldn't say anything. The man had long blonde hair and nicely tanned skin. While they watched him, he turned on a hose and started to water the lawn.

The boys watched him in silence for a while, until they were interrupted by a knock on the passenger-side window.

"What are you doing!?" It was a middle-aged woman. She had a scowl on her face. "We don't need people like you in our neighborhood!"

Naruto tried to ignore the woman, and quietly asked Sasuke out of the corner of his mouth. "What do we do?"

"I have no idea."

The woman was getting louder, and Naruto turned his attention back to Arashi. Much to his alarm, the man had dropped the hose and was now heading in the direction of the commotion.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" He grabbed Sasuke's arm. "He's coming over here! He's coming over! What do we do!? Shit!"

"Calm down! We're just going to play it cool."

Naruto ignored him, his panic growing as the man got closer. Suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore.

"RUN!!!!!!!" He was out of the car in a flash, tripping over the curb before darting to his feet and sprinting down the road. He heard more shouting behind him, and the squealing of tires, but he didn't stop.

Until Sasuke pulled up right next to him.

"You fucking moron! Get in the damn car!"

Naruto didn't have to be told twice.

"What kind of idiot are you!? Run!?! We're in a fucking car!?"

Naruto was breathing heavily. "Yeah, and you weren't driving! I panicked, okay!?"

Sasuke was still mumbling under his breath. "Run? Seriously. Run….?…"

Naruto forced himself to take a deep breath. That had been a near catastrophe. He knew they wouldn't be able to spy on the man at his house anymore.

Sasuke seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Tomorrow, we can go scout out the bakery after school."

Naruto turned to look at him. "You still want to do this, even though I nearly got us caught?"

Sasuke nodded. "It's important to you. Besides, it's kind of fun."

Naruto snorted. "I think it's kind of unnerving, but I suppose it would be fun under different circumstances."

Suddenly, Sasuke was laughing. "I am never going to forget that."

"What?"

"RUN!!! Ignore the very fast car we're sitting in! Lets make a break for it on foot!!!!"

"Shut up!"

Sasuke kept laughing. "That was great. Truly brilliant!"

Naruto crossed his arms. "It's not that funny."

"Maybe you should become a professional spy. You're so not good at it that they would never suspect you."

"Screw you."

"Only in your dreams."

"Really? Is that why I left a big wet spot in your bed last night?"

Naruto smirked when that comment nearly made Sasuke run off the road.

It was Naruto's turn to laugh.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Naruto was nearly crazy with anticipation by the end of school. He just wanted to get it over with so he could go spy on his father. With Sasuke's help of course.

However, instead of driving to the bakery that Arashi owned, Sasuke drove to his house.

"What are we doing?"

"We can't take my car. He'd notice it. I'm gonna see if I can borrow Itachi's car."

"Oh. That's a good idea." Naruto admitted, and he followed Sasuke into the house.

"Hey Itachi?" Sasuke called. There was no answer.

"Your older brother is in the library." One of the maids said quietly, politely bowing to Sasuke.

"Okay. Thanks."

Only Naruto noticed that the maid looked shocked at the 'thanks.' Sasuke was in tunnel vision mode, and Naruto started smirking. He was rubbing off on the littlest Uchiha.

They made their way to the library, where Itachi was busy typing away on his laptop.

"Itachi, I need to borrow your car."

"What's wrong with your car, little brother?"

"Nothing. I just need to drive a different car today."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "No."

"What!? Come on! I really need to borrow it!"

"I don't really care. I'm busy."

Sasuke looked ready to explode, but a little quick thinking on Naruto's part prevented such a disaster.

"Please, Itachi? Sasuke's car doesn't have a back seat."

Both brothers turned to gape at him, and he smirked mischievously. A second later, Itachi tossed his brother the keys. "If there is so much as a scratch on her, I will kill you."

Sasuke nodded, and immediately turned to leave the library.

"Naru-chan!" Itachi called after them. Naruto turned to look at him.

"I think you can finally graduate to the rough stuff now."

Sasuke gave the blonde a glare that could have melted him on the spot, if eyes had that much power, at least.

"That was the best you could come up with!?!!" Sasuke snarled as they were driving Itachi's Mercedes to the bakery. "That's just what he needs! More 'proof' about our conjoined sex-life."

Naruto just laughed. "He already thinks it. It's not like we're going to make it worse by exploiting the fact."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"You know he doesn't really think we're using the car to have sex. Do you honestly think he would have let you borrow it if he thought we were going to make a big nasty mess in the backseat?"

Sasuke still didn't say anything.

"Although, if we wanted to screw with him we could always spill a mysterious creamy white substance in the backseat and see how he reacts."

Naruto grinned when Sasuke started laughing. "He would kill us."

"Nah. He couldn't because he explicitly told me to be rough. We'd have to put some on the ceiling too, just to make him wonder."

Sasuke shook his head. "He would still kill us."

"It would serve him right, for making dirty assumptions."

Then, Sasuke surprised Naruto to no end. "Lets do it!"

But Naruto got over his shock quickly. "I can't wait to see his face."

They finally reached the bakery, parking across the street at the right angle that they could see into the front of the store.

"You know what I think? We need to find a way to get in there without him knowing we're there." Naruto said thoughtfully.

Sasuke snorted. "And how do we do that?"

"I don't know. But it would be a lot more useful to actually talk to someone about him, don't you think? But we would have to do it stealthily. He's probably already told everyone about the crazy kids that were parked out on his street all day, and if he saw us again, they would put two and two together."

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. "That makes sense. But again, how would we do something like that?"

"I'll think of something."

"That's encouraging."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the boy, then promptly turned to stare at the bakery. There was a woman at the counter, and an old man sitting at a table. There was no sign of his father.

"Well, I don't think you got your artistic talent from your father." Sasuke said after a while.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"His bakery is named 'Arashi's Bakery.'"

Naruto snorted. "Yeah. It is pretty unimaginative."

"See. We're slowly but surely finding things out."

"Yeah. We know he likes cheese-its and he's not creative. Soon, we'll know his whole life-story."

Sasuke glared at him. "It's a start! And this is stuff you won't find out from a bunch of paperwork."

"True." Naruto turned his glance back to the bakery and saw a mass of blonde hair. "There he is!"

His sudden outburst made Sasuke jump.

They watched in silence as the man leaned against the counter. He was wearing a ragged apron, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Although, I suppose you have to be somewhat artistic to bake a decent-looking cake." Naruto mentioned off-handedly.

"Hn."

"I wish I could hear what they were saying." Naruto muttered. Arashi was having a very animated conversation with the other two occupants of the shop.

"He has a nice smile." Sasuke commented, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow at him.

"I don't mean it like that, moron! I mean he seems nice from his smile."

"Good. I didn't want to even think of the ramifications of you being hot for my estranged father."

Sasuke punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Would you stop doing that!?"

"Only when you stop making stupid comments."

"I was only joking! I knew what you meant!"

"Sure you did."

Naruto heaved a huge fake sigh and turned his attention back to the bakery. "We have to figure a way to get in there."

Sasuke didn't reply.

Arashi had taken off the apron, and walked outside. He leaned against the front of the building and lit up a cigarette.

"Now we know he smokes." Sasuke pointed out.

"Yeah." Naruto wrinkled his nose. "That's great. My father wants to come into my life, but he's going to die of lung cancer as soon as I get to know him."

"Does that mean you are going to meet him?"

"No! I still haven't decided! I need to know more!"

"And how do you suppose we're going to find out more?"

"I don't know."

"I think he's looking at us."

"What?" Naruto turned to look at the man. His head was cocked to the side, and he seemed to be staring directly into the car.

"Damnit! Why can't your brother have tinted windows!?"

"Because it's not legal to have the front windows tinted."

"So!? I'm sure he would get away with it."

Sasuke shook his head.

Naruto was watching Arashi carefully, looking for any movements in the direction of the parked car. "Do you think he realizes we're the same kids from yesterday, or do you think he's just staring at nothing in particular?"

"Well, I don't think he's admiring the car."

Naruto suddenly had a horrified look on his face. "It is a very noticeable car! So is yours! What do you think he's going to think when he sees us again in a different, very expensive car? He knows it's us!"

"Just calm down. We don't know that yet."

Naruto huffed, and looked back towards the bakery. "Where the hell did he go?"

Sasuke looked around. "I don't know. Maybe he went back inside."

Naruto looked inside the bakery. The woman had left her place from behind the counter and was looking curiously out the window. Arashi was nowhere in sight.

There was a knock on the driver's window, and both boys jumped.

"Oh crap!" Naruto swore when he saw Arashi standing next to the car. "What do we do?"

Sasuke nervously fidgeted on the steering wheel. "I don't know."

"Just ignore him! Maybe he'll go away!"

As soon as he said that, another knock came on Sasuke's window, this one a little louder and seemingly more impatient.

"I can't just ignore him!"

"Then just drive away!"

Sasuke gave the blonde and incredulous look. "That wouldn't seem suspicious at all."

"Drive, Damnit! I think he's coming around to my side!" The blonde was all but shrieking.

Sasuke growled in annoyance, and started up the car. He quickly backed up a few feet, and swung the car out into the street, narrowly missing an SUV that honked and veered away.

Naruto chanced a glance back at the man they were speeding away from, relief coursing through him. The man was standing where they had been parked a minute before, and had very confused expression on his face.

His relief was short lived, however, when the SUV they had nearly run into pulled back behind them and flashing lights came on.

"Son of a bitch!" Sasuke swore. "It's a fucking cop!" He grudgingly pulled over, barely a block away from the bakery.

Naruto felt the panic rising again, and he turned to watch Arashi. He was now standing outside of the bakery, but was watching the scene with interest.

This whole 'spying' game was going to be the death of him.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"I know how we can get into the bakery!" Naruto said excitedly, after an hour of sitting in Sasuke's room in complete silence.

"How?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"It's brilliant!" Naruto stated proudly. "But I'll have to go buy some things." He jumped up off the bed. "What's your pant size?"

Sasuke looked confused. "28. Why?"

Naruto smirked. "You'll see. I'll stop by later when I have everything."

He quickly left the Uchiha residence, and headed downtown to do some shopping.

* * *

"No! Absolutely not!"

"But Sasuke! It's the only way!"

"I don't care!"

"Please! We have to get in the bakery somehow! And he would never suspect it!"

"We don't know what he would suspect! I am NOT going to dress up like some slutty teenage girl!"

"Aww! Where's your sense of adventure!?"

"I am plenty adventurous!"

"Really!? When's the last time you did something completely spontaneous and off the wall?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"Then it's settled! Tomorrow, we're skipping school and doing a covert operation to infiltrate Arashi's Bakery."

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but Naruto cut him off. "Call it payback for that little stunt you pulled to get me into art!"

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut. "Fine! But if anyone ever finds out about this, I will personally dismember you!"

Naruto grinned. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Sasuke growled in Naruto's ear, trying to pull down the short plaid skirt he was wearing.

"Shut up, and act more like a school-girl!" Naruto snapped. He was wearing a matching plaid skirt. They were both wearing button up white shirts, heavily padded bra's and wigs. They were still wearing their dark sunglasses.

"I am going to kill you."

Naruto ignored his friend. They had parked a few blocks over, and were currently walking down the street to Arashi's bakery. They had already received several wolf-whistles.

"I told you it would work! They have no clue that we're guys!"

Sasuke didn't answer, and Naruto could tell that he was sulking.

They finally reached the bakery, and Naruto paused before opening the door.

"Don't forget, you're supposed to be a dimwitted schoolgirl!" He warned Sasuke. Sasuke didn't answer, and although Naruto couldn't see it, he knew his friend was giving him a death glare.

"Just act like Sakura." He added before taking a deep breath and opening the door. He didn't have to look to know his last comment had made Sasuke smile in spite of himself.

The woman at the counter looked up when they entered.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

Naruto flashed her his most charming smile and started talking in a somewhat high-pitched, annoying voice. "Okay. Here's the deal. I totally forgot that today was my mom's birthday. Now, she really doesn't like chocolate, but she loves strawberries."

The woman nodded, pulling out a menu from behind the counter. "Would you like to look through our selection?"

"Yeah." Naruto giggled stupidly. Beside him, Sasuke had yet to say anything. He leaned against the counter and started looking through the pages, talking non-stop the whole time.

"I totally can't believe I forgot. It's the big 4-0 ya know, and mom has totally been freaking out about it. She think's she's getting old. Ooh! That one looks good. Hmm. She doesn't like walnuts though… But anyways, I was writing this paper today and when I looked at the date it hit me! Today is mom's birthday. I nearly had a panic attack. So, I totally told the school that I had a doctors appointment to get a new prescription for birth control, and they all but shoved me out the door, so my mom will never think I forgot." He stopped, reading the description for a cake. "I think I'll take that one!"

The woman looked at the cake he was pointing to and wrote it down. "Would you like to do a personalized message?"

"Yeah. Hey mom, love you lots and have a super birthday!!! With three exclamation points."

The woman wrote it down. "My boss is out for lunch right now, but he should be back in a few minutes."

"Awesome. So. This is a cute little place. I've seen it a few times, but I usually just use the same bakery as my mom. But they totally messed up my last birthday cake. I'm allergic to peanuts, and they assured my mom that it would be totally okay, that they would be extra careful. But then, at my party I totally went into anaphylactic shock and had to go to the hospital. It was the worst birthday ever. So, I decided we needed a new bakery. How long have you guys been here?"

The woman looked like she was growing tired of Naruto's endless chatter, but answered him anyways. "Well, Arashi opened the shop about, I don't know, how long would you say it was, Arashi?"

"About four years."

Naruto slowly turned around to look at the man who had just walked through the door. "I see. It wasn't a family business, I take it." Naruto fought to keep his voice from breaking. "My grandpa owned a barbershop, and he passed it down to my father. But I don't have a brother, so I don't know what they're going to do with the shop, because Eww! I am not going to touch other people's hair for a living. That is just gross."

"I see." Arashi said slowly, his eyes narrowing. "No. It's not a family business. I started it when I retired from the Marines. What are you here for?"

"That's fantastic." Naruto started fidgeting. "You see, I totally forgot that today is my mom's birthday, and I need to get a cake, and-

He was interrupted when the man abruptly walked up to him and pulled off his wig.

Naruto froze.

"Okay boys. I want to know why you're following me."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, but the brunette was far from inclined to help him.

Naruto looked back at the man. "Boy? I'm not a boy."

Arashi pointedly handed Naruto the wig, and he quickly put it on, forcing himself to burst into tears. "Why are you so mean to me!?! I had cancer, and the chemo made all my hair fall out! It's not my fault it hasn't all grown back yet."

"When your hair falls out because of chemo, it never grows back."

Naruto froze again, slowly looking up at the man. Then, he promptly looked past him and out into the street.

"Holy shit! That's a lot of blood!"

When Arashi turned to look, the blonde bolted out the door and down the street. He received even more wolf-whistles, and he distinctly heard someone shout, "Run, baby, run!"

And Naruto didn't stop running until he reached Sasuke's car. Panting, he turned to look at his friend.

Only, he wasn't there.

"Crap! I left my comrade behind enemy lines! Son-of-a-bitch!" Still, Naruto couldn't bring himself to go back for his friend.

And he didn't have to.

It wasn't long before Sasuke came walking up, looking furious.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Naruto yelped as Sasuke lunged at him, successfully tackling him to the ground.

In the background, someone yelled.

"Catfight!!!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Sasuke!" Naruto hurried after his friend. They had just pulled into his driveway, and Sasuke was hurriedly walking into the house.

"Don't!" Sasuke snapped viciously as he stormed through the door. Naruto rushed after him. "I have never been more embarrassed in my life! You are the stupidest, most moronic idiot on the face of the planet!"

"It's not my fault! You didn't help the situation! You were supposed to be acting like a teenage girl! Not a bitchy guy who was dressed up like a girl!"

Sasuke turned to glare at him. If his friend hadn't been so angry, Naruto would have happily pointed out that Sasuke made a pretty girl.

As it was, Sasuke was more than angry, and Naruto didn't want to get attacked again.

"What did he say to you!?"

"He told me it was a bold move and we made very good looking girls!" Sasuke snapped. "Then he told me that we needed to come back when we grew out of our skirts and into our big boy pants! You abandoned me!"

"Hello! I made a distraction! It's not my fault you didn't take the opportunity to make a run for it!"

"I didn't have any warning! All I heard was something about blood, and then you were gone! You stupid fucking idiot! I hate you!"

"Get off your high horse! I didn't make you do it!"

"Yes you did! 'You owe me!' I don't owe you anything! Now fuck off!"

"You fuck off! You're being a prissy little bitch! I guess it goes the outfit just happened to be right for your personality!"

Sasuke literally roared as he leapt at Naruto that time, punching him hard in the jaw. But Naruto was expecting it this time, and returned the punch.

Soon, they were both rolling on the ground, each trying to strangle the other and yelling obscenities at the top of their lungs.

They were interrupted by a gleeful voice.

"I can't believe you skipped school to go cross-dressing!"

Both boys froze, and Naruto looked up. He had managed to pin Sasuke down and was straddling the boy, but he quickly jumped up when he saw Sakura standing next to Itachi. Her phone was out.

"What are you doing? Are you recording!?!?!!"

"Yep!" Came Sakura's gleeful reply. "I can't wait to post it on youtube!"

Itachi was smirking. Sasuke jumped up, and took off running.

"Oh! Now you run!" Naruto yelled, as he moved to follow.

"Oh Naru-chan!" Despite himself, the blonde stopped to listen to what Itachi was saying. "You might want to keep that outfit. I'm sure Sasuke would appreciate it!"

Naruto flipped him off and darted to Sasuke's room.

Sasuke was already changed, and was furiously trying to wipe the makeup off.

"What the hell are you doing!?! Get the fuck out!!!" Sasuke snarled when the blonde came in.

"I'm getting my clothes, bastard!" Naruto snapped, grabbing the pile of clothes off the floor. He also grabbed his backpack, and quickly left the room.

He changed quickly in the hallway, startling one of the maids who was unfortunate enough to come around the corner at the exact moment.

Naruto ignored her, and pulled his pants on. He had forgotten to grab his shirt so he didn't bother with it, and shoved everything else in his bag as he continued down the hall, stopping once more to slip his shoes on.

Sakura was still in the front entrance with Itachi, and she was laughing her ass off. Naruto glared, approaching her.

"I'd really appreciate it if you deleted that."

"Not a chance." Sakura took a deep breath. "I was just sending a copy to Itachi's email."

Naruto snarled and turned on his heel. He left the house at a near jog.

* * *

The next day at school was nothing short of hell. Sakura had gone out her way to make sure _every_ person in the school had seen the video of Sasuke and Naruto dressed up as schoolgirls. And _every _person in the school had something to say about it.

And to top it all off, Sasuke was refusing to talk to Naruto. At all.

With each minute that passed, Naruto was getting angrier and angrier. It wasn't as if the Uchiha had to deal with all the crap. No one would dare approach him and poke fun of him. Naruto, however, was live bait. Halfway through the first class of the day, Naruto as sure he would go completely insane.

"Are you listening to me, Naruto?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Nope." Naruto replied offhandedly. Instead of doing his work, he was sketching in his brand new sketchpad that had been presented to him by Gai before school had started that day.

"You really need to be _working_." She pointed out.

"Don't really care."

"Sasuke! Make Naruto do his work!" She whined at the Uchiha. Sasuke thoroughly ignored her.

"I have a question for you Sakura." Naruto suddenly looked up from his notebook. "Is there even the slightest bit of friendship between us at all?"

Sakura looked taken aback. "Of course there is!"

"Then why do you take great pleasure in stabbing me in the back?"

Sakura was speechless.

"Seriously. Why is it that you go out of your way to embarrass me, telling all my secrets when I'm keeping your biggest secret!?" Naruto purposely made his voice louder, catching the attention of most of the other classmates.

Sakura looked confused, but then a horrified look spread across her face. "Naruto! Don't you dare!"

"I'm tired of this crap! Trust is a two-way street!" Naruto said melodramatically. "If I can't trust you, why the hell should I let you trust me?"

Sakura looked on the verge of tears. "Naruto! Please, don't!"

"I've loyally kept yours and Lee's relationship a complete secret!" Naruto spat. There were interested whispers around the room.

"Who's Lee!?" Naruto heard Kiba call. It took every ounce of control he had not to burst out laughing.

"You know. Green leotard, bowl cut, gigantic eyebrows. Think 'youth!'"

A collective gasp rose around the room, followed by some hysterical laughter.

"I am not in a relationship with that freak!" Sakura shrieked loudly. "He's making it up."

"Sakura! You should be proud of your youthful love affair!" Naruto said dramatically, causing the class to burst into a new wave of laughter.

"I'm- I'm- Sasuke and Naruto had sex with each other!!"

The room suddenly fell silent.

But Naruto was ready for that. "Sakura! Don't you think that's below the belt? Just because you're secret is out doesn't mean you have to make up stuff about us!"

Sakura sputtered, looking around at her amused classmates. Then, she promptly slapped Naruto as hard as she could and ran out of the classroom.

Naruto smirked to himself, holding his burning cheek. He chanced a glance at Sasuke, and was pleased to see the smirk on his face.

It disappeared the moment his eyes met Naruto.

Naruto sighed. He had the most morbidly terrifying thought that he may have screwed things up with his best friend. Permanently.

Whereas news of Naruto's sex-life had spread like wild fire, news of Sakura's 'sex-life' with Rock Lee was like the atomic bomb of the gossip world. There wasn't a person in the school who wasn't thoroughly amused and astounded by the fact. By the time that Naruto finally found a chance to escape, about two hours before the bell rang, no one was talking about him and Sasuke anymore.

Now, Naruto wasn't one to ditch school in the middle of the day, but he found himself slipping out one of the back doors between Art and English. He really just couldn't stand to be there anymore.

The problem with Sasuke, coupled with the original problem that had led to the problem with Sasuke, were driving him up the wall. And while his revenge on Sakura had been satisfying and a good distraction, it was only momentary. He needed to clear his head.

And it seemed that a little walk would be the best way to do that. Before he knew it, his feet had carried him to the same street as Arashi's Bakery.

He didn't bother getting very close, thinking it would be stupid, and instead opted to take a seat on a low stone wall where he could just barely see the bakery.

All the fun he had been having with Sasuke, all the stupid, moronic, distracting fun was over. Now, he had to focus on the real issue.

And he found that he was nowhere near ready to decide on the real issue.

This was made more complicated by the fact that he was sure Arashi would recognize him if he did agree to meet him.

"Why can't anything be simple?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

Which is why he was shocked when he got an answer. "Because life isn't simple, kid."

Naruto jumped and turned to look at the man that was sitting next to him on the stone wall. He instantly recognized the man as the old man he had seen sitting in the bakery the first day him and Sasuke had scouted it out. He really hoped the man didn't recognize him.

"You're the kid that's been trying to follow Arashi, right?"

Naruto stood up, intent on making a run for it, but the man shook his head. "Don't go. I'm not gonna tell him you've been hanging around, even though by the looks of it you should be in school."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, cautiously sitting back down. "Yeah, well there's a video that went around the school of me and my friend dressed as schoolgirls."

The man nodded knowingly. "So. What's your interest in Arashi?"

Naruto looked down at the sidewalk, contemplating whether or not he would tell the man. He decided on not.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

The man just chuckled. "You're his kid, aren't you?"

Naruto looked up, startled. "How did you…?"

The man laughed some more. "You look just like him, kid."

Naruto relaxed a bit. "Yeah. You'd think that would mean I wouldn't have to take a blood test to prove it, right?"

The man didn't say anything for a minute. "How did you find him?"

"He contacted my social worker. From there I managed to weasel enough information."

The guy grinned. "I like you kid. You've got lot's of spunk! I'm Hato, by the way. Now, I don't really know much about Arashi's personal life. A man's business is his own. But I know for a fact he would be thrilled to have you in it."

Naruto looked back at the ground. "That's the problem. I don't know if I would be."

"Can't really say as I blame you. It's gotta be a hard decision. But it's your chance to take. No one can take it for you."

Naruto smiled sadly and stood up. "Thanks." He slowly walked away.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Naruto was walking to school early Friday morning. It was the first time in nearly a week he had to walk to school, since he had been spending most of his time with Sasuke. He hadn't bothered going to school the day before, preferring to stay home and let the whole 'cross-dressing' thing blow over a little more. He was also officially broke again, as he had run into Kabuto, who had completely cleaned him out, stating that Naruto had been 'avoiding' him.

Naruto sighed. He hadn't slept hardly at all the night before, and he was deathly tired. But he knew his teammates would kill him if he missed anymore school. Not that they both didn't want to kill him already. He had definitely screwed a lot of things up in the past week. Including the whole situation with his father. He was very tempted to go to Iruka and tell the man that he didn't want to meet his father.

It would be too awkward. He knew for a fact that Arashi would recognize him, and the awkward 'you've been stalking me' thing would be too much for him to handle.

Yep. Naruto definitely thought he was up shit-creek without a paddle.

"Where were you yesterday?" Was the first and only thing out of Sakura's mouth when he finally made it to class. Sasuke still didn't say a word, and Naruto didn't know what to say to the boy to even attempt to heal his bruised ego.

The whole 'cross-dressing' thing hadn't blown over as well as Naruto had hoped, and it wasn't long before Kiba had cornered him and was demanding to know what it was about.

"Well, you can't be afraid to experiment." Naruto told him blandly. "You'd be surprised how many times a little 'experimentation' got me a very fast invite into bed."

Kiba looked thrilled, and Naruto knew it wouldn't be long before the boy was caught doing some of his own cross-dressing.

Sasuke did surprise Naruto after school, however, when he came to collect him so they could go to Sasuke's house for the 'teamwork' meeting.

Before they made it to the parking lot, they were intercepted by none other than Jiriaya.

"You know, old man, you're frequent visits are starting to put me on edge." Naruto stated before Jiriaya could open his mouth.

"Shut it, brat! We have to go see Iruka."

"I can't. I have to go over to Sasuke's house. Teamwork thing." Naruto nodded his head at the unspeaking boy next to him.

"Well you're going to have to miss it. In fact, why don't we just bring Sasuke along?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything.

"I really would rather not." Sasuke stated.

"No! I insist! I think Naruto could use the support."

Naruto glared suspiciously up at his uncle. "Support for what!?"

"You'll see. Now come! Both of you!" Jiriaya's command left no room for argument, and both boys followed silently, giving each other a questioning look.

"You might want to let Sakura know that our meeting is cancelled." Naruto muttered as he climbed into the back seat of Jiriaya's car. Sasuke didn't say anything, but the next minute he had his phone out and was quickly texting.

Naruto felt a wave of anticipation hit him as they drew closer to Iruka's office. This wasn't the normal, run-of-the-mill visit he was used to.

"Something's wrong." Naruto muttered, taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

Once again, they weren't kept waiting and were immediately ushered into Iruka's office.

"Iruka, this is Naruto's friend, Sasuke." Jiriaya immediately spoke up. Sasuke didn't say anything.

Naruto was staring at Iruka, who was looking at some papers. Finally, the man spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki. You are in so much trouble!!!"

Naruto jumped at the loud, harsh tone of Iruka's voice. It didn't take a rocket-scientist to realize that the social worker was pissed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent with me! You are the most scheming, manipulative, conniving, devious, deceitful, sneaky little shit I have ever met!"

Naruto gaped, completely speechless.

"I did NOT give you information about Arashi Shike so you could STALK him!!!"

"What!?! I didn't-"

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Iruka snapped, pushing the papers he had been looking at across the desk. Naruto immediately noticed that they weren't papers, but photographs… of him and Sasuke sitting outside of Arashi's house, outside the bakery, and even walking into the bakery dressed as school girls.

"How the fuck did you get these!!!!??!!!!!" Naruto shrieked.

"Arashi came to see me today, and said that a couple boys had been following him for a few days! He showed me these! Imagine my shock!"

"How the hell did HE get them!!!!?!!!"

"What does that matter! You crossed the line! And you!" He momentarily directed his attention to Sasuke. "Don't even think you're off the hook!" He quickly turned his attention back to Naruto. "We have a system for a REASON! You can't just go off on your own little adventures! I don't just do paperwork for fun!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do!?! Just sit by and make a decision without knowing anything!!!?!!"

"You weren't supposed to do something ILLEGAL!!!! You would have had plenty of information once-"

"Don't give me that shit!!! Yes, I would have seen all the papers and signed something! Then, I would have to take your word on it that it was going to turn out okay! But let me tell you something!!!! I don't take anyone's word on anything! I have to see for myself! And you can take the paperwork and shove it up your ass for all it's worth! Everything looks good on paper!!!! Very few things are good in real life!!!"

Naruto paused, waiting for Iruka's reaction. The man looked as if he hadn't heard anything that Naruto had just said.

"You are going to apologize to him-"

"What!?!!!!"

"I don't want to hear it! You are going to apologize to him! You lost your privilege to decide when you BROKE THE LAW!!!!!!" Iruka took a deep breath, ignoring Naruto's panic stricken face. "He is waiting in the next room. I expect it to be a sincere apology. He didn't come here so he could be harassed by the same person he's trying to meet."

"I wasn't harassing him! And I learned more in those few days then I could learn in months of paperwork!"

"Really? And just what did you learn?" Iruka's voice had turned snide and sarcastic.

"He likes cheese-its!"

"How could you possibly know- Damnit Naruto! Did you go through his trash!?!"

Naruto froze, then quickly shook his head. "No! Of course not!"

"What the hell were you thinking!!?!!"

"I wasn't! I panicked! In case you hadn't noticed, I do really stupid things when I panic, no thinking involved!!! I didn't know how to react to the whole damn situation!!!! And you expected me to make a decision under those circumstances!?!"

Iruka gaped at the blonde, and suddenly turned to Sasuke again. "How did you get dragged into this mess?"

Before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto was shouting again. "Leave him out of this! It isn't about him! It's about me!!!"

Iruka glared at him. "You're right! This is about you! Which is why you are going to apologize to Arashi right now!"

"No!"

"Excuse me!?"

"I said no!! It's my decision to make, and I'm making it! No!"

"You lost your decision making privileges!!!"

"Well I'm taking them back!!"

Iruka stood up, trying to glare down the blonde. "Naruto, you will apologize or-"

"Or what!?!!!"

Apparently, Iruka was drawing a blank.

"You know what!? Screw you! I don't need this!!!"

"Stop acting like a child and take responsibility for your own actions!" Jiriaya suddenly butted in. Naruto whipped around to glare at the man.

"Stop acting like a child!? I haven't been able to be a child since I was nine years old!!! Don't tell me to stop acting like a child!!! I am acting like an adult!!! The problem is that no one was ever there to show me how, so I'm playing it by ear!!!"

The room fell silent, Naruto's heavy breathing the only sound. Without another word, he quickly left the office, slamming the door as hard as he could.

Halfway across the street, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, glaring at Sasuke.

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke said quietly. "I know you don't want to hear it, but you need to calm down and think about this. If you don't, you'll regret it."

Naruto stared at the boy, hardly comprehending the words spoken to him. "I can't do it."

"Of course you can. It will be a little awkward at first, but that will pass-"

"No! I really can't do it! I can't suddenly be someone's son! I don't know how to be a son!! What if I fuck up!!"

Sasuke looked startled. "That doesn't make sense, Naruto."

"Yes it does! I haven't been a son for years! I hardly remember when I was a son! I haven't even had a remotely parentlike figure in my life! I'm bound to fuck it up! I fuck up everything as it is! That's what I do! I fuck things up!"

Sasuke grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him. "Naruto! I can guarantee that he is ten times more nervous about being a father than you are about being a son!!"

Naruto shook his head. "I can't do it! I couldn't bear to disappoint him! But I don't know how not to! I don't even know how to keep a friendship going!!! I can't even come out to you!!! How the hell am I supposed to come out to a parent!!!!?!!!"

Naruto froze when he saw Sasuke raise an eyebrow, and the realization of what he just said hit him. He immediately followed his first instinct, which was to run away.

Sasuke wouldn't let him. "Whatever. We can talk about your orientation later. Right now, you need to take a deep breath."

Naruto followed his instructions, breathing deeply and trying to calm his nerves.

"I'm scared." He said quietly.

"I know." Sasuke put an arm around his shoulder and turned them to walk back towards the social services office.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to update... My computer was down for a long time... I also had the hardest time writing this chapter and I still don't like it, but the story must go on... **

They were nearly to the door when it opened and Arashi stepped out, closely followed by Iruka.

Once again, Naruto's first instinct was to run, but he was stopped from doing so by Sasuke's tight grip on his shoulders.

"Deep breath." Sasuke whispered out of the corner of his mouth before he released his hold on the blonde and turned to Iruka. "Hello Iruka. I do believe you haven't berated me for my role in the delinquency yet."

If Naruto hadn't been so nervous, he would have laughed at Sasuke's forwardness.

Iruka got the hint, and went inside with Sasuke, and Naruto was left looking anywhere but at the man in front of him.

Finally, Naruto couldn't take the silence anymore, and he took a deep breath before he started talking.

"I'm sorry about the whole stalking you and following you and going through your garbage thing. It's just that I freaked out, and I do really stupid things when I freak out, and I'm still freaked out, and I'll probably be freaked out for days after this which means there are still many more stupid things in my near future and I know I shouldn't have done it, but I'm stupid and-"

"You don't have to apologize." Came Arashi's smooth, low voice. "I can't say that I wouldn't have done something similar in your position. And I don't think you're stupid."

Naruto snapped his mouth shut, reminding himself to breathe. He was still resolutely avoiding the man's eyes.

Arashi could sense the boys obvious nervousness, and tried to ease the situation. "Dressing up like a schoolgirl was your idea?"

At this, Naruto blushed, running a hand through his hair and finally working up the courage to look at the man's smiling face. Great. One of his father's first memories of him involved cross-dressing.

"You might have fooled me, if I hadn't been on the lookout for two boys, one blonde and one with black hair. It was kind of a dead give away."

Naruto smiled nervously. "Yeah. That definitely didn't go as planned."

Arashi laughed. "I wouldn't have suspected a thing if one of you had come walking in, but with both of you…"

Naruto fidgeted a little. "How did you figure out who I was?"

"Well, it was a little obvious. Days after I contact Iruka I'm suddenly being followed by a couple boys. Several people mentioned the fact that I had a mini-me, and well, after that I put two and two together."

"But how did you get the pictures?"

"Someone sent them to me. I think his name was Itachi. He also sent a letter explaining who you were and why you were following me."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Itachi!? Oh!!! I'm gonna kill him!!!!!!"

Arashi raised an amused eyebrow. "A friend of yours?"

"You could say that. He's Sasuke's older brother." Naruto crossed his arms, glaring at nothing in particular. "I'm gonna stab him in the eyeball with a screwdriver!!!"

Arashi chuckled.

Naruto was feeling a little better about the situation, but was still nervous. A flood of questions were pouring into his brain, but he didn't have the nerve to ask them.

But he didn't have to. Arashi let the smile fall off his face, and his expression turned serious. "I think I owe you an explanation, Naruto."

Naruto was once again looking at the ground. "I'm kind of dreading that."

"I know. But you deserve to know." Arashi sat down on the curb, motioning for Naruto to sit next to him.

"I knew your mother for years. Since elementary school, I think. We were really good friends."

Naruto didn't say anything, but took a seat beside the man.

"We were never romantically involved. It was strictly a friendship."

Naruto snorted. "Where did I come from, then? I don't think I was delivered by a bird." He immediately regretted his sarcasm. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

Arashi shrugged it off. "No. You make a good point. But I'll get to that. When we graduated, Kushina was engaged to her high school sweetheart, Konomi. He was… well… I never liked him. She was too good for him, and he was a bastard, but she didn't listen to me. I had signed up to go strait into the military after school. I left for eight weeks to go to boot camp, and when I got back I found out that he had started beating her."

Naruto glanced at Arashi when the man paused. He looked sad.

"When I found out, I beat him to a bloody pulp. It earned me a restraining order, and Kushina refused to talk to me. She kept making excuses for him, like it was okay that he hurt her. She didn't want my help, but I gave it to her anyways."

"I didn't hear from her at all until a few months later, when I was visiting my parents while I was on leave. She came to see me."

Naruto was absentmindedly chewing his knuckle as he listened. Arashi smiled at him when he noticed. "Your mother used to do that exact same thing."

"Really." Naruto wished the man hadn't said that. It just made the whole situation a lot more awkward.

Arashi cleared his throat and continued the story.

"When she came to see me, she looked terrible. She didn't say it, but I knew Konomi was still around and that he was still hitting her. But she still refused to let me help her. She said she had it figured out—that she had a plan."

"Anyways, she stayed late that night. Apparently Konomi was out with his buddies, so we had a night in. That was the last night I ever saw her."

"Is that the night when you had sex in a not-romantically-involved way?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Arashi blushed a bit. "Yes. We weren't drunk. It's important that you know that. We were talking about everything from high school, to my military training, to what we wanted to do in the future, and it just happened. In the morning, she was gone, and I didn't see her again before I went back to base for my next assignment."

"How did you know I was your kid, and not Konomi's-or whatever his name was."

"She wrote me two letters. In the first one, she told me that Konomi had left her because she was pregnant. In the second letter she told me she thought that I might be the father, and that I didn't need to worry about it. She said she could handle it. I tried to write her back, but both times my letter was returned to me because the address was invalid. I tried to find her when I was back in town, but no one knew where she went. No one even knew she was pregnant."

Arashi sighed. "When I retired from the military, I opened my bakery. I tried to find Kushina's parents, but they were dead, and I didn't know if she had any other family. Well, a few months ago I hired a private investigator to find her. That's how I found out about the car accident, and that's how I found out how to find you."

Naruto stayed silent. He really didn't know what to say, or even what to think.

He had been wrong about his what-if scenarios. The whole idea that if his father wasn't a bastard it meant that his mom was a bitch-theory had gone out the window. She wasn't a bitch. She was just stupid, because she let some guy beat her.

"Why do you think she didn't keep in touch?" Naruto asked quietly, looking back up at Arashi.

"I don't know. I think I know why she disappeared though. Konomi would have come looking for her, eventually. He was the type to come back and 'claim' what is his. He was such a bastard. I couldn't have imagined what he would have done if he found out you weren't his."

"How would he have known?"

Arashi actually laughed at this. "Well, Kushina had red hair, and Konomi had brown hair. They both had brown eyes."

"Oh." Naruto nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

They fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence.

Naruto started fidgeting. He was trying desperately to think of something to say.

Once again, Arashi beat him to it. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"Huh? So long for what?"

"To find you."

Naruto ran his hand through his hair. "Don't be. I mean. It's not like its your fault or anything."

"I should have tried harder."

"That might not have made a difference. It's hard to find people, trust me. Did you know there are 37 Arashi Shike's in this city?" Naruto instantly realized what he had just said and turned beet red.

Arashi just smiled. "No. I wasn't aware of that."

"Well… it's not that easy to find who your looking for, and its probably a lot harder when they don't want to be found." Naruto was slightly mortified. Now that all the explanations were out of the way, he found himself incredibly embarrassed about the whole stalking thing.

"Speaking of which, how did you figure out which Arashi Shike I was?" There was more than a little amusement in Arashi's voice.

"Well. First, Sasuke did a search on the computer, and we started eliminating people off. Like, we got rid of anyone who was really old, and really young. OH! And we eliminated the women off the list, and after that we still had 16 left. So, I went to Iruka and pulled the 'freaking out' card on him and kinda tricked him into telling me that you were a 36 year old baker."

Arashi chuckled.

"Yeah. Apparently I'm a sneaky, manipulative, deceitful little shit. Although, Iruka added a lot more adjectives than that."

Arashi smirked. "I heard."

This caused Naruto to stiffen up. "All of it?"

"Some of it. You guys were being rather loud." He noticed the horrified look on Naruto's face, and shook his head. "Don't worry. Nothing you said was unjustified."

"Doesn't mean I don't feel bad."

The older man simply shook his head and stood up, stretching. Naruto suddenly realized that the sun had gone down. They had been talking for a long time.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stop by the bakery sometime after school. I'd like to spend some time getting to know you, if you want to."

Naruto stared blankly up at the man. Why was he suddenly nervous again?

"If you want. You don't have to." Arashi continued, seemingly losing some of his nerve. "I'm sorry. Forget I asked. If it makes you too uncomfortable…" He cleared his throat. "I think its policy to have all meetings through social services, anyways. They have to supervise meetings, I think."

Naruto watched the man fidgeting nervously, but still couldn't open his mouth to speak.

"Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you later… Or maybe not. Bye."

Naruto watched the man slowly walk away, presumably heading to his car. Arashi was about to walk around the building when he finally found his voice. "Would Wednesday be okay!?!"

Arashi turned back to look at him. Naruto couldn't see him very well in the dark.

"Wednesday would be great!"


	24. Chapter 24

AN: Alright... So it's been a long time... I'm really sorry bout that... having no internet sucks... anyways... here it is... enjoy!

**Chapter 24**

The next day, Naruto didn't do much of anything. In fact, all he did was sit on the couch and stare at the wall. He couldn't even work up the energy to break out the oil pastels that Gai had recently gifted him.

He had met his father. Although whether or not that was a good thing was still up in the air.

He had agreed to spend time with the man. Part of him couldn't wait for Wednesday, and part of him was completely dreading it. He had already embarrassed himself way too many times for his comfort.

The bottom line was that he still hadn't decided if the previous day had been a success or a complete disaster.

Sighing, Naruto got up and half-heartedly went through his cupboards. There was plenty of food. He just didn't feel like eating.

He didn't feel like anything.

His lethargy lasted until late afternoon or early evening- he had never been good at distinguishing between the two.

At first, Naruto was bound and determined to ignore whoever was knocking on his front door.

But whoever it was, they weren't about to give up. The knocking just kept getting louder and more frequent.

When he finally did answer the door, he was expecting to see Suiren and Taki. Instead, it was Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's blank look and pushed his way into the apartment. When Naruto didn't move, Sasuke took the liberty of closing the door and locking all four locks, just the way Naruto liked it.

"I'm here to cheer you up." Sasuke said in his 'matter of fact' tone.

"Who says I need to be cheered up?"

"No one has to say it. I can tell."

Naruto snorted. "Really? I didn't know you have ESP."

Sasuke punched him in the arm and flopped down on the couch, setting his backpack down on the floor. "I bet you don't even know what that means."

"Extra Sensory Perception. It means you're special."

Sasuke ignored him and rummaged in his bag, pulling out a massive bottle of Tequila. "The universal fix-all. Get some cups."

Naruto ignored the order and sat down. "Seriously. What are you doing here? I thought you hated me."

Sasuke shrugged, looking a little guilty. "I don't hate you. I was really mad- still am, actually… but I don't hate you."

Now, Naruto was more than a little confused, which apparently showed because Sasuke became very defensive.

"Hey! I'm still new at this whole friendship thing! I'm not perfect. I'm going to screw up! But I'm trying to make it right."

"I know. It just seems… un-Sasuke-ish."

Sasuke shook his head. "So. How did it go with your father?"

Naruto didn't hesitate when telling him the entire story. About halfway through it, they started passing the tequila back and forth.

"So, it wasn't as bad as you thought?"

Naruto shook his head, taking another swig of the vile liquor. "I'm going to go see him at the bakery after school on Wednesday."

"That's good."

"Maybe."

"Hey! He wants to spend time with you. That's already better than my father. He's never there, even when he's there."

"Explains a lot about you and Itachi, though." Naruto grinned.

But Sasuke's indignation soon turned to suspicion. "Hang on! How did Itachi know you were gay?"

Naruto choked and blushed crimson. "I was kind of hoping you had forgotten about that."

"Well I didn't. How did he know?" The brunette was getting more suspicious.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Because I've been going to the bar where he works for over three years."

"You've known my brother for three years?" Sasuke frowned. "Please tell me you haven't slept with him."

Naruto coughed, taking another long drink.

"You did! You had sex with my brother! EEEEWWWWWWWWWWW! Naruto choked and spat a mouthful of tequila all over his friend at his sudden outburst.

Sasuke didn't notice. "I can't believe you boned my brother. Eeewwww… that's horrifying Naruto. Absolutely horrifying."

"Its not as bad as you make it sound." The blonde crossed his arms, trying to fight down his embarrassment. "We only had a few flings. It wasn't like-"

"You mean you went back for more! Once wasn't enough?"

"Hey! He happens to be very good in bed!"

"ACK! I don't need to hear that!"

Naruto suddenly whacked Sasuke upside the head with one of the couch cushions. "You asked!"

For a minute, Sasuke was speechless. He took a few deep breaths before he spoke again. "Okay. You… and Itachi…." He shuddered. "I can live with that. Hah! I knew he was gay!" He turned serious again. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

Sasuke nodded enthusiastically. Then he shook his head. Then he nodded. "I think so." It was becoming obvious that the boy couldn't hold his liquor very well.

"You know Temari? She graduated last year."

Sasuke nodded slowly.

"I slept with her brother."

"You mean that weird guy that wears the beanie and has tattoos on his face!"

"No! Gaara. The youngest brother."

Sasuke thought for a minute. "The creepy redhead!"

Naruto nodded. "You have no idea how creepy he really is. I thought I was gonna die."

"Why?"

"Well… He's really into bondage… and he doesn't believe in safe words."

Sasuke looked confused for a minute, then horrified. "EEEWWW!"

"You asked! I didn't know he went to school with us until afterwards. That was incredibly awkward, to say the least."

Sasuke snorted. "I bet. That's scary."

Naruto nodded. "Needless to say I didn't go back for more that time."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, trying to take another drink of tequila and missed, slopping it down the front of his shirt. He cursed, and took another drink.

Naruto took the bottle when Sasuke passed it back to him, but instead of drinking, he set it on the floor by the couch.

Sasuke didn't notice. He seemed to be deep in thought. He gave Naruto a meaningful look, but didn't say anything.

"What?"

Sasuke swallowed hard. "I'm going to ask one more question, but I'm not sure I want to know the answer." He paused. "The threesome Sakura found out about. Who…" He trailed off.

Naruto shook his head. "You're right. You don't want to know about that."

The brunette nodded in agreement. He was silent for another minute. Then he exploded as if he couldn't take it anymore. "Yes I do want to know!"  
Naruto started laughing. "You're a fun drunk. Okay. If you really must know… It was Itachi and his friend Deidara."

Sasuke blinked at him. "I knew it! I knew Deidara wasn't just his 'friend!'" He jumped up and 'whooped.'

Naruto was still laughing, and he felt great. Sasuke didn't hate him, didn't even seem to be mad at him still. He was taking the news of Naruto's gayness really well, and on Wednesday Naruto was going to go spend some time with his father at the bakery. Life was pretty good.

It took a minute for the silence to register. After the long burst of information sharing, and the multiple outbursts from Sasuke, there seemed to be nothing left to say.

At length, Sasuke started fidgeting and looking sidelong at Naruto. "I'm bored."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

Sasuke pushed himself off the couch. "Lets go do something." He tried pulling the blonde off the couch, but only got a shrug in response.

"It's kind of late to be wandering around."

"But you go out every Saturday night!"

"I leave a lot earlier than this, and I get back in a lot later."

Sasuke pouted. "Then what do you do when you're stuck in?" He looked around, as if expecting something exceptionally amusing was going to jump out at him.

"I draw."

Sasuke looked unenthusiastic for a minute, but a mischievous smile quickly passed his face. "Pass the tequila."

Naruto looked at him suspiciously, but passed the bottle anyways. A sense of foreboding briefly overcame him. "I don't think I like that smile. What are you planning?"

Sasuke shook his head, taking another large gulp and setting the bottle down. "You're going to draw."

"Okay…" It seemed innocent enough, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something sinister was at work behind his friends' too innocent smile.

"I will be your first client."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, but didn't reply.

"Get set up. I'll be back." He stood up shakily, took a minute to stabilize himself, and then disappeared down the hall into Naruto's room.

Naruto tried to ignore the nervousness that was turning his insides into a bowl of jello and obligingly set up the easel he had borrowed from the school. He set up an extra large drawing pad and sharpened a few of his best pencils.

Then, he waited. He could hear Sasuke rummaging around in his room, and his nervousness grew.

After what felt like hours, Sasuke came out wearing the schoolgirl uniform he had obviously found in the back of Naruto's closet. Except this time he wasn't wearing any makeup, there was no padded bra, and the shirt was unbuttoned, leaving his pale chest exposed.

Naruto swallowed hard. Sasuke was showing way too much skin. And he seemed to know it. He smirked, and slid onto the couch smoothly, flashing more than enough leg to let Naruto know that there was nothing but skin under the too-short skirt.

He positioned himself so he was sitting on the couch long ways. He was turned toward Naruto slightly, his legs bent slightly so that the skirt had slipped to reveal even more of his thigh. One arm was laying elegantly across the back of the couch, the other lay against his body, his hand coming to rest on his exposed thigh.

Finally, Sasuke looked at him again, smirking at Naruto's blank expression. "Well. Don't keep your first client waiting."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Naruto swallowed again, harder this time as Sasuke watched him expectantly. He picked up his pencil, but hesitated, taking in Sasuke's revealing position. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but otherwise looked unconcerned. "Why not?"

"Well. Because I think… I don't know. How much have you had to drink?"

Sasuke smirked again. "You think I'm going to be freaking out about this in the morning?"

Naruto nodded, forcefully tearing his eyes away from Sasuke's hand as he clenched it around the fabric of the skirt, pulling it up on his thigh another inch or so.

"Since we're having an honest evening, I supposed it's a good time to tell you that I rather enjoy being risqué when I'm intoxicated." Sasuke shifted slightly, slipping the skirt higher up. Naruto could make out the curve at the bottom of his ass, and forced himself to look away again.

Sasuke noticed his hesitation. "If it really bothers you, we don't have to do it."

Naruto shook his head and took a deep breath. "It's not that it bothers me. I'm afraid that… Well… That in the morning you're going to be furious with me because… I don't know… Because I took advantage."

Sasuke was silent for a minute. Then he laughed. "I won't be. I'm actually surprised that Itachi hasn't broken out the nude photos I took of myself the first time I got drunk."

"What!"

"I told you, I like being risqué when I'm intoxicated."

"Meaning you have exhibitionist tendencies?"

"Exactly."

Naruto smiled, and finally started on his drawing. He noticed at once that during their conversation, Sasuke had managed to lift the skirt even more and had slipped the shirt down over one shoulder. Naruto took more time studying him than he needed to, taking in every curve, every shadow, every muscle, and every detail of the wide expanse of skin laid out before him. And what he saw with his eyes went down on the paper with ease.

* * *

When Naruto had finished the drawing, it was almost two in the morning. But Sasuke wasn't finished. After a few more shots of tequila he slipped the shirt off and straddled the back of the couch, lowering himself so he was stretched out, but his body wasn't making full contact with the piece of furniture, and his back was arched. He shifted his leg so that once again, too much thigh was showing. This time, he didn't have to adjust the skirt.

By this time, Naruto was fighting the erection of a lifetime. It would ease up when he was working on small details, but came back with a vengeance whenever his eyes scanned over certain parts of Sasuke's body. By the time he was done, his hands were starting to shake.

Naruto knew he shouldn't have been surprised at Sasuke's next move, but he was.

The skirt came off, and Sasuke stood still for a moment, completely naked. Then, he got on the couch on his knees, facing Naruto directly. One hand came up to rest on his chest, the other on the inside of his thigh. He stared directly at Naruto, who was trying hard not to look anywhere below the shoulders.

"Sasuke…" Naruto managed to choke out. "I don't think I can do this."

Sasuke relaxed his pose. "If you continue with art, you'll have to draw nude models."

"This is different."

Sasuke slowly moved back into his pose. "I know. But I trust you. I would have asked you to do this at some point, regardless."

Naruto didn't say anymore, but took a deep breath and started drawing.

* * *

It was 9:00 in the morning when Sasuke had finished out every pose he wanted. There were a total of four. Naruto still couldn't look at the last one without blushing horrendously. Sasuke had shamelessly prostrated himself on Naruto's bed, looking sexual, sensual, erotic and completely dirty, but at the same time having elegance that Naruto could only dream of being able to pull off.

Sasuke had finally put his clothes back on after he had made Naruto go back and sign each piece, and was studying the drawings intently over a cup of tea.

"We never discussed what your fee was going to be last night." Sasuke broke the silence suddenly.

"Fee?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "What fee?"

Sasuke was smirking at him again. "You can't just give out your art for free. And since I was your first client, I get to set the standard. Your art will only go up from there."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm a beginner. Plus, you're my best friend so you get a discount."

Sasuke nodded. "That's acceptable. So, five hundred apiece then. It's settled."

Naruto choked on his tea. "That's crazy! That's too much Sasuke! Way too much!"

Sasuke was smiling again, but this time there were no mischievous intentions behind it. "You aren't acknowledging the fact that even though you are a beginner, you are incredibly talented. I place a high value on your work. Also, you deserve more because they are all risqué and you had to stare at my ass all night."

Naruto flushed as that same smirk emerged on Sasuke's face, but he didn't argue.

"It's settled then."

Sasuke was slow to call a cab that day. He made Naruto pack a bag with his school clothes for the next day, and took great care to roll the drawings up carefully. During the ride to his house, he was treating them like glass.

Naruto was very restless. He was uneasy about what had happened between him and Sasuke. He had trouble understanding how he could have sex with countless nameless strangers and never feel the slightest bit of shame, but a night spent drawing his naked friend was turning his insides over with anxiety and nerves. It had been the most intimate thing he had ever done with anyone.

Sasuke was watching Naruto carefully, a frown pulling at his face. He reached over and placed a hand over Naruto's twitching fingers, stilling them. Naruto jumped a little, and looked at Sasuke, who smiled warmly and squeezed his hand gently. Naruto returned the smile, and turned to stare out the window. Sasuke did the same, but he didn't let go of Naruto's hand until they pulled up outside the house.

They were almost an hour late for their meeting with Sakura, and she was furious. Itachi was flitting around, watching the two boys with interest, taking in their exhausted appearance. He broke into the middle of Sakura's rant. "Did you two have sex for real this time?"

Sakura looked at Itachi startled. "I thought you said they'd already had sex!"

Itachi shook his head. "I said they'd slept together. The sex part is still up in the air."

Sasuke glared at his brother. "We did not have sex."

Itachi studied him again, then looked back at Naruto. "You both look like you haven't gone to bed."

Itachi was staring at Naruto now. Naruto saw the unasked question in his eyes. 'What would make you miss you're weekly visit to the club?'

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, holding Itachi's gaze and trying to project the message 'it's not what you think.'

He wasn't sure if Itachi got it.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's bag from him and headed up the stairs. "You two go ahead and go to the library. I'll be down in a second."

Itachi watched his brother leave, his focus suddenly on the large roll of paper he was carrying. He turned back to Naruto and Sakura, "I'm guessing by now you know how to get to the library on your own."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice.

When Sasuke joined them, Sakura broke off on her rant again. They managed to cut her off, and over the next half hour got a decent chunk of work done. It was barely a dent in all the work they had, since both Naruto and Sasuke hadn't been able to make it to the previous meeting. Sakura started off on another rant when they refused to tell her why they were absent.

They had been working hard for over an hour when Itachi finally made another appearance.

"I have accepted the fact that you two didn't have sex last night."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. Sakura looked slightly disappointed, but still a little suspicious.

"That's decent of you?" Sasuke hardly looked up from his notebook.

Itachi's face split into a grin that was nothing less than pure evil. "I don't think you would have had the time. But I say, Naruto, catering to Sasuke's fetish like that… Was it better than sex?"

Sasuke stood up, knocking his chair back. "Did you just snoop through my stuff!" His fist clenched at his sides, and his whole body seemed to tremble.

Itachi ignored him, still focused on Naruto. "I never took you for one that enjoyed that kind of foreplay."

Sasuke roared, and punched Itachi in the mouth as hard as he could. "Shut your fucking mouth! How dare you! Where do you get off saying things like that to people!"

Itachi touched his split lip, looking at the blood on his fingers. "It's just my way of finding out some things, little brother. I do find it interesting that Naruto has surpassed his nightlife to spend time with you. Its good for him, to surpass sex for something more… productive." Itachi was grinning. "It also shows how protective you are of him. He is very talented by the way."

Sasuke was still fuming, and Naruto was trying not to look at Sakura, who was glancing between him and Itachi. He could practically see the light bulb come on over her head.

"Wait a minute." Sakura looked hard at Naruto. "Why does Itachi know anything about your nightlife?"

Naruto didn't answer. Sasuke seemed to tense up as Sakura slowly continued her train of thought.

"But… you go to clubs, right? And Itachi works at that gay one…" There was a gleam in her eye. "The only way he could know about your nightlife is…" She smirked. "Oh. This is great. No wonder he's been making cracks about you and Sasuke." She leaned in close to Naruto, her voice a fake whisper. "Are they as alike as they look?"

Naruto closed his eyes hard for a second, and stood up. He didn't look at anyone as he left the room.

Just outside the library, he stopped and leaned against the wall, letting his head bang against it hard. This was going to be all over the school the minute Sakura walked in the door. Before, when she had tried to spin the story about Sasuke and him, he had managed to shake it off, make it look like she was desperate and lying.

It wouldn't work a second time.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by the library door slamming open and Sakura bursting into the hallway. She glared at Naruto, but didn't say anything as she went past.

It wouldn't be so bad, if it was just about him being gay. But he was sure that the rumors would circulate that he had been screwing both the Uchiha brothers. Add that to his known love of threesomes and it wouldn't be long before it was assumed that he had screwed them at the same time.

Naruto sighed as Sasuke slowly came out the door. "I asked her to keep her perverted opinions to herself. I don't know if it worked. She kept getting deeper and deeper into theories, and I'm pretty sure by tomorrow she'll have given a name to my 'fetish' and it'll probably be twisted."

Naruto nodded.

"Itachi kicked her out. Said that she had a vivid imagination and that she'd do well to keep her fantasies to herself."

"I think we should start meeting at the library. It might help avoid some of these problems." Naruto was trying to avoid looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke was silent for a minute. "I think that's a good idea."

Silently, they made their way up to Sasuke's room. They both plopped down on the bed, exhausted, angry, and a little worried.

"I don't regret it." Sasuke said quietly, turning over to look at Naruto. Naruto didn't look at him. He didn't say anything.

Sasuke rolled back over, and got comfortable. He had almost drifted off to sleep when Naruto finally did speak.

"It's not true."

Sasuke sat up, looking at the blonde who was still avoiding his eyes. Naruto took a deep breath and continued. "What Sakura said. You two aren't alike. And it isn't the same thing. What happened between me and Itachi… The way it happened… it could never happen between us. It's different." Naruto had the desperate need to make himself understood, but didn't feel like he was doing an adequate job. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

"I don't mean that I don't find you attractive… or anything like that… but with Itachi… and with everyone else… it was just sex. It didn't matter."

Sasuke watched the blonde struggle to find the right words, frowning slightly.

Finally, Naruto sat up, shaking his head in frustration. "I mean… the way Sakura said it was like… like I was… I don't know… collecting, and that you and your brother were part of the collection… that I could compare you like baseball cards or stamps… You know it's not like that, right?"

Finally, Naruto turned and looked Sasuke in the eye. He was closer than Naruto had thought he was, and he was smiling.

Sasuke took Naruto's hand, and brought it up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on his palm. "You didn't need to tell me that. I already knew."

Naruto felt the relief wash through him, and he slumped back on the bed. Sasuke laid back next to him, still grasping his hand.

"Is that why you've been so antsy today?"

Naruto nodded. "I guess."

Sasuke frowned again. "You can talk to me."

"I know I can. I'm just still getting used to that." Naruto sighed. "That's part of it, I guess. The other part is that drawing you… like… that… it was so personal, so close… so… intimate. I've never had that sort of closeness with anyone. It was deeper than what I'm used to, I guess."

Sasuke smiled again, and rolled over, molding his body against Naruto's so tight he was breathing on his neck. "There will be plenty more where that came from."

Naruto turned a little red, and a small smile pulled at his lips. Neither of them spoke again, and they soon fell asleep.

AN: Alright... I'll try to get my ass in gear and write some more soon... I'll also do my best to make sure there's internet when I need it... anyways... hope you enjoyed it... btw... I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this but I don't really care if I get reviews or not... yes I like them and they're appreciated... but I'm not gonna blackmail you guys with a 'review or I wont update'... It annoys the crap out of me when someone does that and makes me not review on purpose-no matter how much I want the story to be updated...  
anyways... I'll be writing again soon :)


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